APSA Needs Assessment - African Union - Peace and Security ...

This Report was Commissioned by the African Union's Peace and Security
Department and was Subsequently Adopted by the Third Meeting of the Chief
Executives and Senior Officials of the AU, RECs and RMs on the
Implementation of the MoU on Cooperation in the Area of Peace and Security,
held from 4-10 November, 2010, Zanzibar, Tanzania By
Lt. General (Rtd.) Louis Matshenyego Fisher, Team Leader
Dr. Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, Deputy Team Leader
Dr. Abeer Mniema, Team Member
Dr. Hortense Nguema Okome, Team Member
Colonel (Rtd.) Meïssa Tamba, Team Member
Jonas Frederiksen, Team Member
Dr. Alaa Abdelaziz, Team Member
Richard Reeve, Team Member Table of Contents Executive Summary 7
STRATEGIC/CROSS CUTTING ISSUES 9
THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL 10
THE CEWS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES IN THE RECS 11
THE AFRICAN STADNBY FORCE 12
THE PANEL OF THE WISE AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES IN THE RECS 13
Chapter I : The African Peace and Security Architecture: The Akosombo
Spirit 14
Introduction and Background 14
The Akosombo Decision 14
Purpose & Objectives 14
Methodology 15
Background and Legal Framework 15
The African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) 15
The Peace and Security Council (PSC) 17
Panel of Wise 17
Continental Early Warning System (CEWs) 17
The African stand by force (ASF) 18
Chapter II 19
The Peace and Security Council (PSC) and Similar Decision-Making Structures
in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) 19
Introduction and Background 19
Regional Decision Making Structures 20
Progress, Challenges and Constraints 22
Conclusion 27
Chapter III 28
The Continental Early Warning System 28
Introduction and Background 28
Progress and Challenges in the Operationalization of the CEWS 28
Needs and Priorities at Continental and Regional Level 28
Chapter IV 33
The African Standby Force (ASF) 33
Introduction and Background 33
Policy Framework for ASF 34
The Regional Standby Arrangements 36
The East African Standby Force (EASF) 36
The Ecowas Standby Force (ESF) 39
The North African Regional Capability (NARC) 41
The SADC Standby Force (SSF) 43
The Economic Community of Central African States (FOMAC) Standby Force
(FOMAC) 45
Chapter V 49
The Panel of the Wise and Similar Structures in the Regional Economic
Communities (RECs) 49
Introduction and Background 49 Chapter VI: The Peace Fund 55
Introduction and background 55
Chapter VII 59
Findings, Trends and Issues: Understanding the Dynamics of the APSA 59
Vertical Coordination 59
Horizontal Coordination 61
Sustainability 62
Subsidiarity 63
Coherence 65
Partnership 66
Conclusion 67
Chapter VIII 68
Recommendations and Way Forward on the Operationalization of APSA 68
STRATEGIC/CROSS CUTTING ISSUES 68
THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL 69
THE CEWS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES IN THE RECS 72
THE AFRICAN STANDBY FORCE 73
THE PANEL OF THE WISE AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES AT THE RECs 75
List of acronyms
ADB African Development Bank
AMANI African Military Exercise
AMIB African Union Mission in Burundi
AMIS African Union Mission in Sudan
AMISEC African Union Electoral Support Mission in Comoros
AMISOM African Union Mission in Somalia
AMU Arab Maghreb Union
APF Africa Peace Facility
APSA African Peace and Security Architecture
ASF African Standby Force
AU African Union
AUC African Union Commission
Bde HQ Brigade Headquarters
CEWS Continental Early Warning System
CEWARN Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism
CMD Conflict Management Division
COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
COPAX Peace and Security Council of the Central Africa
CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement
CPMR Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution
CPX Command Post Exercise
CSSDCA Conference on Security, Stability and Development
Cooperation in Africa
DANIDA Danish International Development Agency
EAC East African Community
EASF Eastern Africa standby Force
ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EPF ECOWAS Peace fund
ESF ECOWAS Standby Force
ESFTF ECOWAS Standby Force Task Force
EU European Union
FLS Front Line States
FOC Full Operation Capability
FOMAC ECCAS Standby Force
FPU Formed Police Unit
FTX Field Training Exercise
IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development
IOC Initial Operational Capability
IPOs Individual Police Officers
IPSTC International Peace Support Training Centre
ISDSC Inter-State Defence and Security Committee
JRC Joint Research Centre
LAS League of Arab States
LOGBASE Logistics Base
MAPEX Map Exercise
MPMC Mission Planning Management Cell
MOu Memorandum of Understanding
MSC Military Staff Committee
NARC North African Regional Capability
OAU Organization of African Unity
OPP Operational Planning Process
PLANELM Planning Element
PoW Panel of the Wise
PSC Peace and Security Council
PSO Peace Support Operations
PSOD Peace Support Operations Division
RDC Rapid Deployment Capability
RECs Regional Economic Communities
RMs Regional Mechanisms
SADC Southern African Development Community
SCA Strategic Conflict Assessments
CEN-SAD Community of Sahelo-Saharan States
SOPs Standard Operating Procedure
SRO Special Representatives of the Organ
SSF SADC Standby Force
TF Task force
TFG Transitional Federal Government
UN United Nations
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNSC United Nations Security Council Executive Summary
1. This report assesses progress made by the African Union (AU), the
Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms in the
Operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture
(APSA). It tracks and most importantly, identifies progress in the
operationalization of APSA by the aforementioned institutions.
Additionally, it identifies specific gaps, needs and priorities with a
particular focus on the key components of the APSA i.e. the Peace and
Security Council (PSC), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS),
the African Standby Force (ASF), the Panel of the Wise and the Peace
Fund. The build-up of the APSA at the AU and the RECs/RMs has made
varying degrees of progress and achieved a certain level of operational
readiness. 2. The report makes the following conclusions and findings based on the
assessment criteria developed for the study. The findings are broken
down into the following categories: Vertical and Horizontal
Coordination; Sustainability; Subsidiarity; Coherence and Partnership. 3. On vertical coordination, the report notes that the level of
coordination between the AU and the RECs/RMs has registered some
progress, especially as it relates to the operationalization of two key
components of the APSA: the African Standby Force (ASF) and the
Continental Early Warning System (CEWS). The level of coherence in the
development of these components is more advanced than the other three
components (the Panel of the Wise and the Peace Fund). This is partly
explained by the fact that the ASF and the CEWS have clearly
articulated roadmaps, thereby providing more structured basis for their
operationalization.
4. Beyond the ASF and CEWS, there appears to be limited coordination
between the other APSA components. At the time of writing this report,
there was no direct linkage between the PSC, Panel of the Wise and
similar structures in the RECs/RMs, although this is envisaged for the
future. Related to this is the feeling that APSA in its current
iteration does not adequately cover all existing and emerging security
challenges. The critical point here is to ensure the conceptualization
of APSA is flexible so that it can be recalibrated as and when needed.
At another level, there appears to be a disconnect between the AU PSC
and similar organs in the RECs. On horizontal coordination, the report notes that the various APSA
components are developing at different paces, the level of horizontal
coordination has been limited. For instance, the inter-locking system
that is envisaged whereby the decisions of the PSC benefit from
information and analysis from other components such as the early
warning systems at the AUC and the RECs has been limited. At another
level, the REC/RM to REC/RM interface has been equally limited. While
there is a potential gap presented by overlapping memberships, there
are some REC/RM to REC/RM coordinating initiatives on peace and
security, which could provide useful lessons on how to enhance inter-
REC/RM coordination.
The issue of sustainability featured prominently at the AU Commission
and RECs/RMs, primarily on ac