UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon on Sunday urged the Malian authorities to institute a road- map to the return of the West African country to Constitutionalism.

Addressing the opening ceremony the 20th African Union Summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Ban said, "I encourage the Malian authorities to embrace a comprehensive political process. This includes agreeing on a roadmap leading to the full restoration of constitutional order."

He welcomed the timely bilateral assistance to the Malian army to help end the advance of the extremist armed groups in the northern part of the country.

He said the UN has sent specialists on the military and political tracks.

"I am personally committed to ensuring that the UN stands ready, once the regrettably necessary combat operations are over, to undertake a major system-wide effort for peace building, governance and security sector reform, physical reconstruction, and regional cooperation," he said.

At least 36 heads of state and government are attending the two- day summit held under the theme, "Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance".

The summit takes place at a time when the continent is facing a wave of conflicts that have made hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

The hotspots on the continent currently include eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), Mali, South Sudan, Sudan and Somalia.

In Mali, thousands of French troops and the Malian army are fighting the al-Quida-backed rebels in northern Mali aimed at retaking all of the half territory of the nation occupied by the rebels last year.

The nation in the West African bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has pledged to dispatch a contingent of 3,300 soldiers to support the Malian government while other members of the African Union also committed to assist the UN mandated mission in Mali.