Tag: African Union
Somalia receives Tiger armoured vehicles and other equipment from the AU
The African Union (AU) recently handed over a large batch of military equipment to Somalia’s military, including Tiger armoured vehicles, fuel and water tankers,...
Quick reaction forces seen as integral to AUSSOM structure
Three months into its third identity in 18 years, the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia wrapped up a technical work session to finalise...
Funding for Somalia’s new AU peace mission hangs in the balance
A new African Union (AU) peace support mission in Somalia started work on 1 January. This is the third consecutive mission in the country,...
AU adds its voice to calls for DRC ceasefire
The voice of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) has been added to those worldwide calling for an immediate...
Top UN body hears Africa is world terrorism epicentre
Last year saw more than 3 400 terror attacks in Africa with a fatality count in excess of 13 900, the United Nations Security...
Can Burundi afford to pull its troops out of Somalia?
The United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) decided in December 2024 to replace the current AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) with a...
ASF review meeting hears of multiple continental challenges
All five Africa’s continental regions experienced a disruptive 2024 which impacted on security, climate, economies and the “global order as a whole” an African...
Burgavo FOB handover marks completion of ATMIS phase three drawdown
Another part of wrapping up the current African Union (AU) mission in Somalia took place last week when the Burgavo forward operating base (FOB)...
The AU takes aim at Africa’s new brand of mercenaries
The often shadowy nature of mercenary activity makes exact numbers difficult to verify, but there has certainly been a resurgence in Africa’s use of...
African Standby Force needs to be reconfigured, defence ministers hear
Bantu Holomisa, one of South Africa’s two deputy defence and military veterans ministers, is in Addis Ababa this week where he heard Africa continues...
AU’s ATMIS replacement force takes shape
Details are emerging about the new peacekeeping mission that will succeed the African Union’s current multilateral force in Somalia known as ATMIS when it...
African Standby Force needs to evolve as security landscape changes, webinar...
The African Union (AU) African Standby Force (ASF) has been part of the continental bloc peace and security architecture for 20 years, growing in...
New AU mission for Somalia: old problems, fresh solutions?
Seventeen years after the first African Union (AU) mission was deployed in Somalia to degrade the violent extremist group al-Shabaab, the country is set...
AU solidarity field mission visiting Cabo Delgado
An African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) delegation is currently in Mozambique to, amongst others, gather “first-hand information” on the situation in...
Sudan – the world’s “forgotten war” – condemned by AU
More than a year ago in April hostilities in Sudan were escalated to the level of war with the African Union (AU) this week...
Somalia army vs al-Shabaab: as African Union troops leave, which is...
The African Union (AU) has gradually reduced its troop numbers in Somalia since late 2017, from a peak of over 22 000 to about...
UN funds for AU peace operations: Somalia as a test case
Last December, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously agreed to consider case-by-case requests from the African Union (AU) for UN funding for peacekeeping...
African Standby Force turns 20: has it helped keep the peace?...
It’s been 20 years since the African Standby Force was established by the African Union (AU). The standby force is mandated to implement the...
AU PSC marks 20 years
May, specifically the 25th, is auspicious for the African Union (AU) as it is marking the establishment 20 years ago of its Peace and...
The African Union is working on peace in Sudan: expert explains...
The African Union has recently named a team to work on a peaceful end to Sudan’s civil war. The team will engage Sudan’s feuding...
Inconsistencies are costing the AU Mission in Somalia
In September, a call was made for a technical pause to the African troop drawdown from Somalia, following the initial withdrawal of 2 000...
Why aren’t sanctions preventing coups in Africa?
In response to the resurgence of coups since 2019, the African Union (AU) and regional economic blocs have issued sanctions against errant states, predominantly...
Decisive action lacking at UN-AU security consultations
Africa’s stability is inextricably linked to international peace and security. For that reason, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the United...
Niger: another symptom of Africa’s weak crisis-response capacity
Last month’s coup in Niger once again revealed Africa’s crisis of multilateralism. Political and security developments in Niger and other African countries confirm the...
ISS: Why aren’t more African Union decisions on security implemented?
Africa is contending with growing threats of violent extremism, entrenched localised conflicts that intersect with organised crime, coups and democratic backsliding. The African Union...
African-led peace operations: A crucial tool for peace and security
African-led peace operations have been vital tools for managing Africa’s complex array of security challenges, though continued reform is needed to intervene more decisively...
ISS: Africa’s Ukraine-Russia mediation needed a clearer AU footprint
Food, fertiliser and fuel are among the reasons Africa needs the Russia-Ukraine war to end quickly. With Africa becoming an arena for geopolitical competition,...
ISS: Sudan needs African Union boots on the ground
While international and regional responses to the crisis in Sudan have been swift, they haven’t stopped the violence perpetrated against civilians. Slow, ineffective talks...
ISS: Could UN funding for AU peace missions become the norm?
The African Union (AU) and its regional economic communities have deployed about 27 peace support operations in Africa since the 2000s. These missions have...
Ramaphosa on continental conflicts and instability
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa used this week’s edition of his newsletter to tell citizens the country is chairing the African Union (AU) Peace...
AU Ethiopia/Tigray peace committee meets for first time
Just over a month after hostilities ceased in Ethiopia’s Tigray province, an African Union (AU) joint committee overseeing agreement for lasting peace in the...
ISS: Africa’s approach to countering terrorism still misses the mark
At the end of October 2022, the Somali capital Mogadishu suffered another suicide bomb attack, which killed 121 people and injured more than 300....
ATMIS military strength two thousand more than MONUSCO
An indication of the importance attached to the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia comes in troop numbers currently standing at 18 586 which...
High level AU retreat underway in Namibia
The Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) of the African Union Commission (AUC) is currently hosting its 13th “high level retreat” on...
Tigray war: two years on, the AU has failed to broker...
The African Union pledged in 2016 to “silence the guns” by the end of 2020, an ambitious agenda of ending armed conflicts on the...
ISS: The AU prepares to wield the stick with more rigorous...
The African Union (AU) decided in May this year to activate its Peace and Security Council (PSC) sanctions committee. Although established in 2009, the...
ISS: Africa’s security depends on action – not just commitment
The African Union’s (AU) 16th extraordinary summit on 28 May sought solutions to the threats of terrorism and unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs) in...
ASF to take on continental anti-piracy tasking
The African Union (AU) go-to when armed reaction is needed to stop insurrection, conflict or other violence on the continent will also be part...
The African Union’s conflict early warning system is no more. What...
Since 2017, the African Union (AU) has undergone institutional reforms to increase its efficiency and effectiveness. The gist of these reforms was proposed by...
al Shabaab Somalia attack branded cowardly
“Barbaric” and “cowardly” is the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) response to an al Shabaab attack on a transition mission in...
ISS: Is the AU mission in Somalia changing in name only?
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has supported that country’s government in the fight against al-Shabaab for the past 15 years. The operation...
ISS: Could joint AU-UN mediation break Sudan’s stalemate?
Mediation in Sudan’s broken political transition is yet to bring stability to the country. Attempts by the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU)...
ISS: Will Africa see more decisive action from a new PSC?
Fifteen countries were elected to the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) at the continental body’s recent summit in Addis Ababa. The...
Emerging threats in Africa under the spotlight
A European Union (EU)/ African Union (AU) joint Africa peace and security architecture summit heard both face growing common security challenges including instability, radicalisation...
UN ready to implement recovery engines in Africa
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres elaborated on “four engines of recovery”, including peace when he addressed the African Union (AU) Heads of State...
African Union opens post-conflict centre to help countries escape cycle of...
To improve the political stability of African nations, the African Union recently launched its Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD).
The new agency is...
ISS: The AU must face up to Africa’s governance-conflict links
A review of the issues covered in 2021 by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) predictably shows positives and negatives for...
ISS: Will 2022 see an end to AU Peace Fund delays?
Considering the impact of conflict on the continent and the African Union’s (AU) role in managing these crises, the Peace Fund is arguably one...
Solidarity and unity key to the advancement of peace and security
Peace and stability will remain elusive if African countries do not stand in unison and address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.
These were...
What does AMISOM’s future look like?
The African Union has had a regional peacekeeping mission in Somalia for nearly as long as the country has been plagued by an Islamist...
