Provisional Programme of Work of the Peace and Security Council for May 2026

Date | May 2026

In May, the Federal Republic of Nigeria will take over the chairship of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC). The Provisional Programme of Work (PPoW) for the month envisages four substantive sessions, covering six agenda items. The PPoW additionally envisages the induction of the PSC Committee of Experts (CoE) and a joint retreat of the PSC, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) sub-committee on General Supervision and Coordination on Budgetary, Financial, (GSC) and Administrative Matters and the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the AU Peace Fund.

All four sessions are scheduled to happen at the ambassadorial level. No provision is made for an open session of the PSC. Except for one session, all the sessions are envisaged to be held virtually. Except for one country-specific session, all the other sessions focus on thematic issues, including the activities of the Multinational Joint Task Force for the Lake Chad Basin. Many of the agenda items have a regional focus covering West Africa and adjacent areas.

The first session of the month is scheduled to be held on 4 May on the theme ‘Impact of Climate Change on the crisis in the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions.’ This will be the second session of the PSC this year to be held under the climate change theme, building up from its 1331^st session held on 19 February 2026. However, this focuses on the climate shock impacts in relation to the crises in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) and the Sahel regions. The session is expected to review recent developments on the impact of climate change in LCB and the Sahel and the ways in which such impact intersects with insecurity in these regions.

In the LCB region, the local economy of the people depends on the lake activities such as fishing, agriculture and pastoralism, especially in the upper catchment of the lake. Historically, Lake Chad covered about 25,000 km² but has reduced to less than 2,500 km², drastically affecting livelihoods and economic activity. Lake Chad’s shrinkage in a context of heightened need and greater weather extremes is driving loss of livelihoods, displacement and rising tensions over access to depleting resources. The vulnerability that this induces in a context of growing demands and lack of alternative sources of livelihoods, along with the weak presence of the state, is taken advantage of by Boko Haram and its factions, including Islamic State West Africa Province and JAS, for recruitment and to sustain their operations in the region. The Sahel is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions in terms of the effects of climate change. It has been projected that temperatures in the Sahel will rise by at least 2°C in the short term (2021-2040), a rate 1.5 times higher than the global average. While the resultant climatic conditions do not on themselves lead to conflict, they heighten existing vulnerabilities and accelerate existing conditions of insecurity in the Sahel, which is experiencing farmer-herder conflicts and conflicts involving terrorist groups.

The next session, set for 6 May, will focus on a ‘Discussion on African strategies for combating Transnational Organised Crime (ToC) in Africa.’ It is worth recalling that during its 845^th session held on 25 April 2019, the PSC had decided to hold an annual session on the theme of ‘transnational organised crime and peace and security in Africa.’ Since then the PSC has held five sessions the PSC has since then held five annual sessions with a hiatus in 2023. This session comes against the backdrop of deepening security challenges, increasingly marked by the expanding nexus between transnational organised crime and terrorism. The 2025 Africa Organised Crime Index reported that the most pervasive organised criminal activities were financial crimes, human trafficking, non-renewable resource crimes, the trade in counterfeit goods and arms trafficking. This session thus provides an opportunity for looking into updates on recent trends and developments in organised crimes in Africa and the impact thereof on peace and security.

The last time the PSC convened to discuss this theme was during its 1279^th session held on 14 May 2025, which focused on ‘Discussion on Organised Transnational Crime, Peace and Security in the Sahel.’ Among other decisions, Council tasked the AU Commission to ‘coordinate with AFRIPOL, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other critical stakeholders in developing tailored responses to the specific geographical and logistical profiles of each criminal corridor, including joint mobile units and specialised port and desert surveillance capacities.’ Another assignment was for the AU Commission, in coordination with AFRIPOL, AUCTC and CISSA, to carry out a comprehensive study on organised transnational crime, peace and security in the Sahel region, detailing its nature, origin, sources of financing and impacts on local populations and to present the study to the PSC. This session thus additionally serves as an opportunity to receive an update on the progress made in these respects.

On 8 May, the PSC will have a Joint Retreat with the PRC GSC Bureau and BoT of the AU Peace Fund. This retreat comes almost two months following an engagement between the PSC and Donald Kaberuka, the AU Special Envoy on Sustainable Financing for the Union and Financing for Peace in Africa. The meeting focused on enhancing the utilisation of the Peace Fund and advancing efforts to secure sustainable and predictable financing for peace operations in Africa. In October 2024, the PSC convened virtually for its 1236^th meeting for an engagement with the Sub-Committee of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) on General Supervision and Coordination on Budgetary, Financial, and Administrative Matters (GSCBFAM). A session which widely focused on the Financing of PSOs and AU peace and security activities. The session called for the review of the annual budget ceiling for PSC activities, and, in the spirit of diversification of funding, highlighted the need for ‘developing innovative financial mechanisms to allow for the AU to respond to emerging security threats.’ This retreat will therefore provide an opportune platform for discussions on strategic engagement around new funding sources and appropriate modalities for accounting for their use, as well as enhanced coordination between the key bodies on the use of the Peace Fund.

The next session, scheduled for 15 May, will be on the theme ‘Update on the operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF).’ The last time the Council considered this agenda item was on 30 January 2025, during its 1257^th session, in which the discussions touched on the continued support for the RECs/RMs in establishing and sustaining regional logistics depots, sustainable financing for PSOs, and the integration of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law (IHL and IHRL) into the ASF doctrine, as captured in Amani Africa’s January 2025 Monthly Digest. It is expected that the PSC will receive updates on recent developments and the next steps towards the full operationalisation of the ASF.

On the same day, the PSC will get a ‘Briefing on efforts towards the Operationalisation of the Combined Maritime Task Force in addressing Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.’ During Council’s 1275^th meeting held in April 2025, it emphasised the need for the ‘Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF) to report on its activities regularly to the Council’ following its endorsement by the Council as a ‘standing, ready–to–deploy force, capable of rapid and coordinated regional maritime security responses in the Gulf of Guinea Region.’ Apart from review of the state of operaitonalisaiton of the CMTF, the session will be expected to give an update following Council’s requests to the AU Commission, through the PSOD, to ‘take practical steps to collaborate with the CMTF in the Gulf of Guinea to identify the capacity needs of the Task Force and to provide such support, including from the Continental Logistics Base (CLB) to position the Task Force as a critical naval component of the ASF, operating in the Gulf of Guinea region.’ Additionally, the session will provide the opportunity to build up discussions on the Council’s previous request on the ‘need for establishing a multidisciplinary task team to follow up on the operationalisation of the CMTF.’

On 18 May, the PSC will have the last substantive session, covering two agenda items. The first item will be ‘Update on the Stabilisation activities of the MNJTF in the Lake Chad Basin.’ A session which is expected to provide update on implementation of previous PSC decisions including from its last 1318^th session held on 15 December 2025, in which Council tasked the AU Commission, in consultation with the UN to consider the application of UN Security Council Resolution 2719 to fund the MNJTF activities, and the LCBC to renew the Memorandum of Understanding and Support Implementation Agreement (SIA) that guides the provision of the AU’s additional support to the MNJTF for a period of one year, starting from 1 February 2026 to 31 January 2027. Additionally, Council was also tasked to support the mobilisation of resources that include air, amphibious assets, anti-drones and anti-IEDs before the commencement of Operation Lake Sanit III. The session is also expected to evaluate the Lake Chad Basin’s security situation and the MNJTF’s operations against Boko Haram and its offshoots, JAS and ISWAP, which remain significant threats to regional stability.

The second agenda item will be ‘Update on the political transition and security situation in Guinea-Bissau.’ This will be the second session on the situation in Guinea-Bissau held this year, building up on the 1333^rd session, and the third time the PSC convenes to consider the situation in the country since the military coup of 26 November 2025, which disrupted the 23 November electoral process. Council directed the AU Commission to sustain engagements with the transition government of Guinea-Bissau, including providing technical support to the National Election Commission with a view to promoting its independence, transparency and institutional integrity. The session will offer a platform to review progress so far toward restoring constitutional order and to follow up on decisions adopted at the 1333^rd meeting, especially on the Council’s request for the development of an integrated plan for security sector reform, with the support of the AU Commission and international partners.

In addition to the PSC sessions, the PPoW envisages two sessions of the PSC sub-committees. The first of this is the meeting of the PSC CoE for an ‘Informal Experts (AU-wide) Session on the AU Liaison Offices (AULOs) Assessment Report.’ This is expected to be the session where the PSC CoE will receive a briefing on the assessment carried out on the state of AULOs. It is worth recalling that on 15 August 2025, the PSC added to its programme an agenda item covering, among others, ‘…CoE Report on the Review of the AU Liaison Offices’; however, the Report on the Review of the AULOs was not finalised as of the time of the convening. Currently, AULOs established by the PSC decisions are: the AULO in Burundi and the Great Lakes Region (Bujumbura), in CAR, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Guinea-Bissau, Libya (Tripoli, which was temporarily relocated to Tunis), in Madagascar, AULO for Mali and Sahel (Bamako), in South Sudan, and in Sudan (Khartoum, temporarily relocated to Addis Ababa). Meanwhile, the AULO in Liberia was closed in June 2019, and the AULO in Comoros was closed in May 2017. The AULO in Western Sahara was also closed in March 2016.

On 13 May, the other PSC Subcommittee, the Counter-Terrorism Subcommittee, will meet for a discussion on the Draft 5-year AU Continental Counter Terrorism Strategic Plan of Action. It is worth recalling that the CoE convened for its 78^th meeting on 1 August 2025 for discussions on the reactivation of this PSC Sub-Committee, in particular the development of the ToR of the PSC Sub-Committee on Counter Terrorism. Two weeks later, on 15 August 2025, the PSC met for its 1297^th meeting to adopt the ToR of the Sub-Committee, which outlines the Sub-Committee’s objectives, mandate, composition and operational modalities, aiming to enhance the PSC’s ability to respond to terrorism through African-led strategies, coordination with the RECs/RMs and collaboration with AU bodies like the AUCTC, AFRIPOL and CISSA.

In addition to the foregoing sessions of the PSC and its sub-committees, the PPoW also envisages the 17^th High-Level Retreat on the Promotion of Peace, Security and Stability in Africa to be held in Libreville, Gabon, from 20 to 22 May. In addition, on 25 and 26 May, there will be the induction of the sixteenth cohort of the PSC CoE to be held in Abuja, Nigeria. This will also involve engagement with the Sub-committee on Counter terrorism and the National Counter Terrorism Centre.

In the footnote, the PPoW also envisages a possible engagement of the Chairperson of the PSC at the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV) to be held on 31 May in New Delhi, India.