Tomorrow (27 May) the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is expected to hold its 928th session on the impact of COVID19 on Living Together in Peace. It is envisaged to be a video teleconference session.

Held under PSC Chairperson of the month, Mafa Mosothoane Sejanamane, Ambassador of Lesotho, who will make an opening statement, the session is expected to receive updates from the Commissioner for Social Affairs, Amira El Fadil and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). Zainab Ali Kotoko the Executive Secretary of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) and Solomon Ayele Dersso, Founding Director of Amani Africa, are scheduled to deliver briefings to the PSC.

The first time the PSC dedicated a session on ‘Living Together in Peace’ was in November 2019. At that time the format of the meeting was an open session and the PSC decided to hold annual sessions to commemorate the day. However, tomorrow’s virtual meeting will be a closed briefing for PSC members.
The UNGA Resolution 72/130 adopted on 8 December 2017 designated 16 May as the ‘International Day of Living Together in Peace’ ‘to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity, and to express its attachment to the desire to live and act together, united in differences and diversity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony’. The major principles and values of harmony and compassion articulated in the resolution are particularly relevant and timely during the current fight against COVID19.
The briefing is expected to commemorate the international day amidst a global pandemic. It is thus taking place at a time that precisely requires global solidarity as well coordination and mobilization of global efforts to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. As much as the values of living together are most in demand at the moment, there are also concerning global trends of increased hostility and tension.

Tomorrow’s briefing offers an opportunity to reflect on how the pandemic has impacted the global order, how multilateral institutions are adapting and the effects on peace and security in Africa. As it can be discerned from ongoing developments the values of living together and solidarity have been put under immense strain as the response to the pandemic has become highly politicized. This has further exacerbated already brewing tensions among global powers. It would be detrimental if African issues are entangled with these geostrategic big power deepening tensions.

Also, of note are the emergence of unilateralism and inward-looking approaches, that are impeding not only cooperation but also the operation of the market in medical supplies and services. A global problem most certainty requires a global solution. Moreover, for any national responses to be effective it is necessary that others are also able to muster the response necessary to ensure that no resurgence and global spread of the virus repeats itself. This means global responses should be inclusive by taking into consideration the particular needs of developing countries. This is why a greater solidarity is needed to ensure that developing countries are supported in not only fighting the health hazard but also in mitigating the socio-economic losses.

Indeed, the socio-economic fallouts from COVID19 is feared to result in more devastation than the pandemic itself. In this context, the application of Living Together in Peace necessitates that measures are taken to prevent the wiping out of the investment put towards poverty reduction and social development. Initiatives that fall in this category include the establishment of the COVID19 response fund of the AU, the recent appeal of the UN Secretary General for a global support package of more than $200 billion and the related joint call of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for restructuring or relieving of the debts of African countries.

At the national level it is high time to also demonstrate particular compassion and solidarity to vulnerable and marginalized groups that face high level of exposure and will be disproportionately affected by the virus and the socio-economic consequences. Among others economically disadvantaged households, refugees, internally displaced persons, migrants and asylum seekers require specific protection measures. There is a great risk of widening socio-economic inequalities given that the pandemic and its impact will particularly hit certain groups more than others. Thus, this requires government’s efforts in bridging gaps within communities by particularly targeting the most vulnerable section of society.

Amani Africa’s briefing will focus on the peace and security impact of COVID19. More particularly, it will provide an overview of the major security trends, conflict situations and the impact of the pandemic on ongoing conflict prevention and management efforts. Hence the various measures taken to contain the spread of the virus and their effects on planned elections during the year, on mediation, implementation of peace processes as well as peacekeeping operations will feature in the briefing. In line with the theme of the session ‘Living Together in Peace’, the briefing will highlight the need for increased global solidarity in addressing the humanitarian and socio-economic fallouts in the continent.

Resolution 72/130 highlights the need to promote the culture of peace and non-violence and underscores the importance of respect for religious and cultural diversity across the world. Multiple incidents of xenophobic attacks, discrimination and mass deportation of migrants have taken place in various parts of the world following the spread of the virus. All of these components are deterrent to effectively respond to the pandemic. As also underlined in the resolution the importance of awareness raising and education is particularly important to cultivate tolerance among communities. During this global pandemic it is critical that communication materials and messages of leaders on prevention, transmission and treatment of the virus should be strictly informed and backed by scientific findings and recommendations of health experts. This plays a key role in fighting misinformation that leads to stigma, discrimination, fear and suspicion.
In this process of awareness creation and communication, elements in the resolution related to interfaith dialogue to foster national cohesion can also be useful. In addition to the scientific community, many governments have also worked closely with religious leaders to reach out, inform and educate people on COVID19. In this regard it is extremely important for many countries and world leaders to reconcile scientific findings, religious and traditional practices. While accommodating religious and cultural diversity it is important however that strict measures are put in place against untested traditional herbal remedies that may derail control of the spread. While indigenous knowledge and practices have a great value it is also important that any form of treatment should go through a rigours process of test and trial before being distributed.

During its 891st session the PSC underscored the importance of promoting living together in peace through regional integration and free movement of people. However, to contain the spread of the current pandemic mobility of people and goods have been highly restricted. These limitations will most likely delay the various milestones set by the continent towards greater cooperation and integration. Nonetheless it will be important for the Council to also note that practices related to social distancing should not undermine ongoing efforts of solidarity and living together. Indeed, it is essential to physically distance while living together under the common ideals of solidarity, harmony and unity.

The global call on cessation of hostilities is another initiative that needs to be followed up. This call is particularly essential for Africa given that there is steep increase in the number of confirmed cases across the continent. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted a 32% increase of new cases over one week alone. As of 24 May the total confirmed cases have reached 107,412. Although currently the cases in Africa are only 2% of the global cases, however these numbers are most likely to rise and the only way the devastation that may result from the spread of the virus in conflict situations can be prevented is if a humanitarian truce is observed by conflict parties.

The expected outcome is a communiqué. The PSC may primarily underline that countries cannot defeat COVID19 in isolation through unilateral measures. At the regional level the PSC could urge for more support to the AU COVID19 response fund and the work of Africa CDC and the necessity of African countries showing compassion and solidarity with the most vulnerable including refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in their response to COVID19. The PSC may underscore that the fight against COVID19 should unify the world to live up to the ideals of living together in peace, harmony and tolerance and support the WHO. It may reiterate previous calls by stressing that only when all countries defeat the pandemic that the world wins the fight against COVID19. It could also welcome the call of the UN Secretary General for a global response package of $200 billion as a measure consistent with the values of Living Together in Peace and for avoiding the worst consequences of the socio-economic and humanitarian fallouts of the pandemic. The PSC could also emphasize the need for access to diagnostics and therapeutics and reiterate the call for access to any eventual vaccine and treatment.

Tomorrow (19 May) the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is expected to receive an update on the progress in controlling COVID19 and its impact in Africa. A representative from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to brief the Council.

The update is expected to cover the developments since the last PSC briefing held on 6 May on the spread and control of COVID19. According to the Africa CDC figures as of 17 May the number of confirmed cases in 54 African countries have reached 81,307 with 2704 death and 31,078 recoveries. Since the last briefing, over the past twelve days the number of cases has almost doubled.

It is expected that tomorrow’s session will review the progress made in terms of enhancing testing capacity. It has been noted in our analysis of the previous session that Africa CDC has launched the Partnership to Accelerate COVID19 Testing (PACT): Trace, Test & Track (CDC-T3), among other issues to support for the testing of one million Africans in 10 weeks, support for the deployment of one million community healthcare workers to support contact tracing and coordination of medical equipment distribution. It is of interest to PSC members to receive update whether and how far this plan is being rolled out.

The other but related issue expected to feature during tomorrow’s session include the continental acquisition and distribution of diagnostic kits and reagents to scale up testing on the continent. In order to increase Africa’s procurement capacity of PPE and various medical equipment that the Africa CDC is preparing to launch a digital purchasing system. The platform will allow African governments to come together and jointly place orders of testing materials and PPE. The virtual platform will also directly link governments with suppliers and companies in China. This will also be particularly beneficial to guide countries that have funds but need further information on available suppliers.

The initiative is a direct response to Africa’s limited access to vital recourses, which is undermining early detection, tracing and the overall preventive efforts. African countries have been heavily marginalized from the global market due to their inability to offer competitive bids. The orders are small in quantity, thus the pooled orders through the continental platform will provide countries with increased advantage to compete in the global market. The tool will support African governments to navigate the global market, which is highly competitive and is experiencing a steep increase in prices and it’s overwhelmed with demands. As pointed out by the Africa CDC Director, the important element in this process is volume and this requires for African countries to join forces and mobilize.

One of the major limitations, highlighted in our analysis of the previous session, to control and monitor the spread of COVID19 in Africa has been the restriction of access to diagnostic kits, reagents and personal protective equipment (PPE), despite the pulling of resources by Africa to procure these at market value.

These restrictions of access have triggered reasonable fears that when a vaccine is developed African and other countries in the developing world may not have easy access. As part of the effort to address this, three African leaders and more than 140 global figures including 50 former world leaders signed an open letter calling for what President Cyril Ramaphosa, AU Chairperson, called ‘people’s vaccine’. AUC Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat and Director of Africa CDC John Nkengason have all joined this global call.

The call was primarily aimed at fostering global solidarity in creating a more equitable global response mechanism by ensuring that no one is left behind. The open letter made a request on three major areas and for their implementation to be conducted under the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO). The first is to make global sharing of all COVID19 related knowledge, data and technologies compulsory and available to all countries. The second is the establishment of a global and equitable rapid manufacturing and distribution plan, funded by developed countries, for the vaccine and all COVID19 medical products and technologies. Third is ensuring COVID19 vaccines, diagnostics, tests and treatments are provided free of charge to everyone in all countries.

The other important development that is expected to feature in the briefing is the draft guidelines on easing the COVID19 lockdown in Africa prepared by the Africa CDC. Under the leadership of the Department of Social Affairs the draft guideline was presented to the members of the coordinating committee of AU’s continental response to COVID19 including health ministers and Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

Although Africa is relatively at an earlier stage of the spread of the virus compared to the rest of the world, countries have started to ease restrictions and lockdown. Thus, the guideline is timely and essential to inform national policies by setting standards and precautionary measures that are necessary to avert any major spread of the virus. In this regard it will be important for governments to balance between resuscitating their economies and protecting people’s health and managing the spread of the virus. It is extremely important that governments follow the strict procedures set by health experts and to ensure that the easing of lockdown takes place gradually and with caution.

The lifting to restrictions on movements and the ease of lockdowns is also expected to facilitate the delivery of the much-needed life saving assistance and humanitarian support to the large number of displaced communities. In this context, the PSC may also reiterate its previous calls on the need for humanitarian assistance to remain uninterrupted during the pandemic.

The update may also shed light on the ongoing work the Africa CDC is doing with regards to engaging member states that are recommending and distributing herbal remedies to treat COVID19. The Africa CDC has worked closely particularly with the government of Madagascar to have a better understanding and information on the suggested herbal remedies and to potentially undertake research on their safety and effectiveness. This is a worrying trend and recommending herbal remedy to treat the virus contradicts WHO and Africa CDC guidelines. The PSC may also strongly urge for increased caution in this regard to prevent any misinformation that may lead to the intensification of the spread.

The expected outcome is a communiqué. The PSC may commend the efforts of the Africa CDC and may welcome the virtual platform set up to facilitate pooled procurement of PPE and equipment. The Council may underline the predicament faced by many African countries in the global market and the importance of the platform in bridging this gap by enabling countries to have access. The PSC may underscore the importance of the global call urging for a fairer global system that allows all countries to benefit from information, technologies and medical resources to combat COVID19. The PSC could also underscore the importance and necessity of continental level investment not only for addressing COVID19 but also for dealing with future pandemics. The PSC could applaud the launch of the Partnership to Accelerate COVID19 Testing (PACT): Trace, Test & Track (CDC-T3) and urge that the efforts for scaling up testing are speeded up. The PSC may also urge governments to adhere to the established WHO and Africa CDC scientific standards and guidelines and adopt all the necessary precautionary measures in the course of the relaxing of COVID19 response measures.