Bringing peace to Africa

AU has devised five pillars to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts across the continent

SINCE its inception in 2002, the AU has been under pressure to resolve the extensive peace and security challenges on the continent. In particular, it’s tried to address the limitations faced by its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), in this area.

The biggest change has been the shift away from the OAU’s so-called non-interference stance to the AU’s more interventionist approach. This is most explicitly found in Article 4 of the AU Constitutive Act.

The AU’s African Peace and Security Architecture was established when it adopted the Protocol on the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council in July 2002. It is guided by the AU’s mandate and its interventionist approach.

The architecture, which has five pillars composed of AU organs and bodies, drives the AU’s peace and security work. Its aim is to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts by working collaboratively with the Regional Economic Communities and Mechanisms.

The five pillars are the Peace and Security Council, Panel of the Wise, Continental Early Warning System, the Standby Force and the Peace Fund. While not all pillars function as intended, there have been a number of success stories.

Peace and Security Council

This is the main decision-making body of the peace and security architecture and can take decisions on a number of fronts. These include:

Implementing the AU’s common defence policy.

Performing peacemaking and building functions.

Authorising and overseeing peace support missions.

Recommending Article 4(h) interventions for situations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Impose sanctions for unconstitutional changes of government, to name a few.

As such, it has issued a plethora of decisions since its inception, with varying degrees of success.

Most recently, it suspended Mali from the AU after the coup that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Yet the council does not always respond, or is sometimes slow to respond, to developing situations and conflicts. Cameroon has proved to be one such case where the council has remained largely quiet over the years.

There are a number of reasons for these shortcomings.

First, despite only requiring a majority vote, it is subject to political constraints that hamper its decisions.

There are also financial and personnel constraints. Mustering enough troops to fulfil a mandate can be a challenge. And then there’s the question of financing, training and equipping them. This is a common problem for the AU’s mission in Somalia.

Panel of the Wise

This acts as the advisory body to the Peace and Security Council. It has a mediation and preventative diplomacy role. The panel’s five elders are chosen based on their contributions to peace, security and development. They work either at the request of the Peace and Security Council or on the panel’s own initiative. Examples of their work include interventions in Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008 and their reports regarding the Arab spring.

Continental Early Warning System

The mandate of this pillar is conflict prevention and anticipating events. Both are notoriously difficult. Prevention and anticipation rely on accurate data and political will to act.

To be more effective, the system needs to work more collaboratively with non-governmental and international organisations, academic institutions and research centres.

African Standby Force Composed of contingents from the five regions, its job is to implement decisions made by the Peace and Security Council. This includes authorised interventions, conflict and dispute prevention, observation, monitoring and any type of peace support mission, humanitarian assistance and peace building.

But there are delays in getting it off the ground. Mobilising a standby force from across the 55 states was never going to be easy because the appetite for involvement in peace support operations differs.

DOMINIQUE MYSTRIS

Peace Fund

It is tasked with the mammoth role of ensuring availability of funds. The vast majority of AU members struggle to meet their membership dues, and self-financing of the AU has yet to prove possible. This means that the fund struggles to secure support from African states.

The fund is financed from the AU’s budget, fundraising and voluntary contributions from AU members, individuals, civil society, international partners and the private sector. While $164 million (R2.78 billion) has been raised to date, it is well below the $400m target.

Overall, the success of the African Peace and Security Architecture is paramount for Africa’s development and human security. Its value should not be underestimated.