The Context
Africa continues to show remarkable resilience in weathering both global and regional challenges. Consolidating peace remains the foundation for the Continent’s continued progress and socio-economic transformation.
During the 50th Anniversary of the Organization of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU) in May 2013, the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted a landmark declaration. They vowed that Africa would not bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation and made a commitment to end violent conflict on the continent by 2020. This was translated into the AU initiative: Silencing the Guns by 2020.
Growth and opportunity
- The transition from the OAU to the AU came with high expectations. It offered a new vision for Africa at a time of renewed economic growth on the continent following years of economic decline, this was a period of rising real per capita incomes and improving human development indicators across the continent.
The exceptions: Conflict affected regions
While Africa’s economic fortunes were beginning to improve there were important exceptions: Countries not at peace, or those emerging from decades of conflict and instability. The human and economic costs of these conflicts had adverse national and cross-border consequences: Increased numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons; the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, lost opportunities and wasted lives. In addition to these old conflicts new and more complex global security challenges emerged.
In response, and in line with the provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC Protocol), the AU assumed political responsibility to address these challenges and developed its African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). However, for a chronically underfunded organization, the financial and institutional requirements of assuming these new missions were perhaps underestimated.
Nonetheless the AU rose to the challenge progressively gaining experience, on what it can do alone and what is best done in partnership with others. It is important to underscore that, in responding to peace and security challenges, the AU demonstrated a significant comparative advantage not available to most other regions and organizations. This notwithstanding, it has become manifestly clear that, for Africa to maximize this advantage, adequate and sustainable resources and capacities must be in place.
In the peacekeeping arena, the AU has mandated and deployed seven (7) peace support operations (PSOs), most of them in contexts where the UN has been unable to deploy peacekeepers in a timely manner: the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB), the African Mission in Darfur (AMIS), the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the AU Electoral and Security Assistance Mission to the Comoros (MAES), the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA), and the African-led International Support Mission to Central African Republic (MISCA).