The U.N. and the O.A.U.: Roles in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security in Africa

Abstract

In contrast with the U.N.’s relationship with the OAS and the Arab League, that with the OAU has been extensive. The Secretary-General, U Thant, in his address to the OAV Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa on I September 1970, referred to this relationship as “close and rather special”. The OAU members are anxious to make meaningful the co-operative relationship between the OAU and regional organizations in accordance with Chapter VIII of the U.N. Charter. In reviewing the brief relationship between the OAU and the U.N., one is impressed by the fact that the constitutional differences discernible in the relationship between the V.N. and other regional organizations in the early years, particularly on issues relating to political and security questions, have not affected U.N. OAU cooperation.