Regional confidence-building measures: activities of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa A/RES/74/73 Summit of Heads of State and Government on Maritime Security and Safety and Development in Africa, held in Lomé on 15 October 2016, Recalling its resolution 69/314 of 30 July 2015, the first such resolution on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife, and also its resolutions 70/301 of 9 September 2016, 71/326 of 11 September 2017 and 73/343 of 16 September 2019, and welcoming the outcome of the high-level meetings on poaching and illicit wildlife trafficking, hosted by Gabon and Germany and held on the margins of the high -level segments of the sixty-eighth and sixty-ninth sessions of the General Assembly, Emphasizing the need to strengthen the capacity for early warning, conflict prevention and peacekeeping in Africa, and taking note in this regard of the concrete conflict prevention initiatives facilitated by the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the Secretariat, Welcoming the close cooperation established between the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa and the Economic Community of Central African States, as well as the signing of the framework of cooperation agreement between the two entities on 14 June 2016, Bearing in mind the increased focus of the Standing Advisory Committee on human security questions, such as trafficking in persons, especially women and children, as an important consideration for subregional peace, stability a nd conflict prevention, and welcoming the adoption by the General Assembly at its seventy second session of the political declaration on the implementation of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons 8 following the highlevel meeting of the Assembly on the appraisal of the Global Plan of Action, Expressing continued concern about the fragile situation in the Central African Republic and in the neighbouring countries affected, and noting the importance of promoting the political process through the implementation of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic in order to make tangible progress, in particular with regard to the protection of civilians, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, and strengthening the authority of the State, Taking note of the Kigali Declaration on the Situation in the Central African Republic, 9 highlighting the regional security implications of the situation in the Central African Republic, and reiterating the commitment of States members of the Standing Advisory Committee to supporting the implementation of the African Union road map for peace and reconciliation, including through financial contributions, and their cooperation to fight more effectively the risks of instability in the country, Taking note also of the Brazzaville Declaration on Confidence-Building Measures, 10 and expressing concern that the issue of mercenaries has become a major security concern, undermining trust and creating tensions among States members of the Standing Advisory Committee, Expressing concern about the increasing impact of cross-border criminality, in particular the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army, the terrorist attacks by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin region and incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, and the issue of transhumance and its cross-border security implications for peace, security and development in Central Africa, __________________ 8 9 10 19-21874 Resolution 72/1. A/73/224, annex I. Ibid., annex IV. 3/7