On Thursday, 18 July, civil society organisations from South Africa, Ghana and Ukraine gathered in Accra, Ghana to engage on the African Peace Mission and Ukraine Peace Formula. The gathering also called on the African Union (AU) and delegates of African states to lead the way for safer nuclear energy development, better protection of children, and fewer opportunities for nuclear-armed states to threaten disarmed nations. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation was represented by Prof Tim Murithi who is the Head of Peacebuilding Interventions Programme.

Experts from various institutions collaboratively developed three policy briefs in support of the African Peace Mission and Ukraine Peace Formula. These briefs address UN reform, the safety of nuclear power stations, and the protection of children during armed conflicts. The recommendations were presented ahead of the African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meeting that took place on 19-20 July in Accra.

The experts specifically, called on the AU and African states to:

• Initiate UN reform that reduces the power of the veto-right. This means empowering the United Nations General Assembly to overrule a veto with a 2/3 majority.

Ukraine’s experience showed that while the majority of countries condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine (over 141 states), Russia could block any UN action to defend Ukraine by using its veto at the UN Security Council. Changing the veto power distribution would help ensure global peace if any veto-holding country starts military aggression against another state.

• Act immediately to uphold international obligations on non-proliferation and stop the aggression of nuclear-armed states against denuclearised nations.

In 1994, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world at the time, in exchange for security assurances from the USA, UK, and Russia. Russian aggression against Ukraine endangers the core of international non-proliferation, increasing the risk of non-nuclear nations pursuing their own weapons of mass destruction. In 2023, global military spending increased by 7%, this means less funds for socio-economic development around the world.

• Protect peaceful nuclear power plants by approving new binding international legislation that prohibits military attacks on nuclear facilities. Nuclear technology is a potential option to support African economic development. The occupation of the largest operational nuclear power plant in Europe by Russian military forces, in violation of all nuclear safety principles, must be stopped and never repeated.

Ghana and the many African countries recently voted for a UN resolution calling on Russia to remove its military forces from the Ukrainian power station.

• Recognise that children are the first victims of military conflict. As of June 2024, Russia has unlawfully and forcibly deported 19,546 Ukrainian children. Post 2022, Russia approved a new legislation allowing the change of citizenship, name, surname, and date of birth of Ukrainian children without parental consent. Ukrainian children have been sent to 57 regions of Russia, with some already adopted into Russian families. Despite support from UN institutions, the International Red Cross, religious leaders such as the Vatican, and individual states like Qatar, only 715 children have been returned in nearly three years. There is a lack of effective mechanisms for their return.

Russia militarily invaded Ukraine in 2014, and with the lack of international response to its aggression, escalated its military invasion to the full scale war in 2022. The collaborative platforms for experts have been initiated by the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, the Democratic Institute Foundation (DIF), and the Ukrainian Association of South Africa (UAZA). More than twenty experts from different fields are partnering for the better future of African continent.