Provisional Programme of Work of the Peace and Security Council for February 2025

Date | February 2025

Equatorial Guinea will assume the role of chairing the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) for the month of February. The Provisional Programme of Work for the month prepared under Equatorial Guinea’s leadership envisages three substantive sessions. This is much less than the usual number of sessions the PSC convenes in the course of the month. The sessions are scheduled to take place at all three levels.

The first session of the PSC on 4 February will be convened at the ministerial level for a session on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. Since 2013, the PSC has held various sessions addressing maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea. The Council last addressed this issue during its 1209th session held on 18 April 2024. During the session, the PSC emphasised the profound impact of maritime insecurity on the Continental Blue Economy and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The PSC had also requested an assessment of the implementation of existing maritime security instruments, for which it may seek to get a status update during this session. Given the proliferation of maritime security initiatives, it is of interest for the PSC to request a comprehensive mapping exercise to harmonise efforts, maximise resources and ensure stronger engagement with all relevant regional bodies in enhanced intelligence sharing, joint implementation of robust counter-terrorism measures. The session may also follow up on the activation of the Committee of the Heads of African Navies and Coastguards (CHANS), which the Council had previously emphasised. The PSC may also seek to follow up on the developments of the first ASF maritime exercise, which is still pending.

On 14 February, the PSC will convene a Summit-level meeting to Consider the Situation in Sudan. The last time Sudan was formally on the PSC’s agenda was on 9 October 2024, during its 1235th session, which examined the report of the PSC’s field mission to Port Sudan and Cairo. That visit allowed the Council to engage with Sudanese stakeholders, including the Sovereign Council of the Transitional Government. In discussions with Sovereign Council head and SAF Commander Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the PSC heard SAF’s perspective on the war, the RSF’s responsibility in the conflict, and Burhan’s expectations for peace. A key contentious issue raised when the PSC held the session to consider the report was the lifting of Sudan’s suspension. More recently, on 31 October, the PSC addressed Sudan again under Any Other Business (AOB) during its 1242nd session, which primarily focused on Women, Peace, and Security. That discussion was triggered by escalating violence in Al-Jazirah State and Al-Damazein following the defection of an RSF commander to the SAF. Since then, the conflict has continued, with the SAF retaking Wad Medani in early January 2025 and advancing into Khartoum while fighting rages on in North Darfur around El Fasher. Civilians remain at grave risk, facing deliberate attacks, torture, summary executions, and widespread sexual violence. The humanitarian crisis has worsened, with nearly half of Sudan’s population—24.6 million people—facing acute food insecurity and famine conditions continuing to expand and deepen. The RSF has been accused of mass atrocities, including genocide. AU Special Envoy on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, has also expressed deep concerns over escalating violence, including mass killings, summary executions, abductions, and sexual violence, warning that the full scale of atrocities remains obscured due to a telecommunications blackout. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts have been scattered, with Türkiye being a recent addition to the already crowded arena of mediation offering to mediate.

On 18 February, the Council will consider and adopt the Provisional Programme of Work for the month of March.

The last session for the month is an ambassadorial-level session on the fight against the use of child soldiers, scheduled to take place virtually on 20 February. The Council’s last session on the matter was during its 1202nd meeting held on 27 February 2024. At the time, it expressed deep concern over the increasingly asymmetrical nature of armed conflicts in Africa that heightened the vulnerability of children to grave rights violations, particularly their recruitment and use by armed forces, non-state armed groups, and terrorist organisations. In the upcoming session, it is expected that the Council will follow up on the decisions it had passed to develop a best practice document of reference to prevent and end the recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups and operationalise Child Protection Architecture. Additionally, the session presents an opportunity for taking stock of trends and developments around challenges to the protection of children in the various conflict settings on the continent and the factors and actors responsible for the plight of children affected by conflicts; this session also presents the PSC the opportunity to review the status of implementation of the various decisions it adopted on the protection of children during armed conflicts.

The PSC, during its emergency session on the situation in Eastern DRC on 28 January had also proposed to convene a PSC session on the situation in Eastern DRC at the Head of State and Government level on the margins of the AU Summit taking place 15 – 16 February 2025. However, this proposed session is not indicated in the Provisional Programme of Work.

On 15-16 February during the summit, the Chairperson of the PSC and the Commissioner for PAPS will present the Report on the activities of the PSC for 2024 and the state of peace and security in Africa.