Assembly/AU/6(XV) Page 5 (ii) Consultative Meeting between the Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 20. In line with the decisions taken at the first consultative meeting held in Addis Ababa in 2007, and following an invitation by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President of the Security Council for July 2010, the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council held their fourth consultative meeting in New York, on 9 July 2010. 21. The consultative meeting provided an opportunity for the two Organs to exchange views on ways and means to strengthen cooperation between them, including on the modalities for the organization of consultations. They discussed strategies for strengthening and enhancing cooperation in support of regional and sub-regional conflict prevention and resolution efforts, including the maintenance of constitutional order. 22. The two organs expressed the need for both national and regional authorities to fully implement the African Peace and Security Architecture. They reviewed their cooperation with regard to conflict prevention and resolution, maintenance of constitutional order, the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Africa. In this respect, the two Organs called for enhanced support to the Year of Peace and Security in Africa. 23. Addressing specific conflict and crisis situations, the meeting considered the challenges for the PSC and UNSC in supporting peace efforts in the Horn of Africa in the foreseeable future, particularly, in relation to the issues of Somalia, Sudan and Djibouti/Eritrea. The two organs lauded the ongoing peace efforts in these situations, including the work of the AU High Level Implementation Panel in The Sudan. 24. Notably, the two Organs agreed on the mechanisms, including channels of communication between the Chairperson of the Peace and Security Council and the President of the UN Security Council, for the convening of the consultative meeting annually, on a rotational basis, not later than the end of June each year. At the end of its deliberations, the meeting adopted a Communiqué as attached to this Report. VI. STATE OF PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA 25. The Assembly will recall that, at its Special Session held in Tripoli on 31 August 2009, on the Consideration and Resolution of Conflicts in Africa, it proclaimed 2010 “The “Year of Peace and Security in Africa”. There are various types of objectives pursued: infusing new impetus in the peace initiatives on the Continent, giving greater visibility to AU action, and ensuring synergy between official efforts to promote peace and efforts undertaken at grassroots level and by the civil society. That decision was taken in a context characterized by the persistence of the scourge of conflicts, despite the tremendous progress made in recent years, thanks to the efforts deployed by the leaders and institutions of the Continent with the support of international partners. 26. The PSC endeavoured to contribute towards the realization of these objectives mainly through regular consideration of conflict and crisis situations in the