In November, the Republic of Cameroon will assume the role of chairing the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC). The month’s Provisional Programme of Work (PPoW) includes five substantive sessions. Two of the sessions will focus on thematic issues, while the remaining three will address country-specific situations, as well as an informal consultation with countries in political transition. The PPoW also envisages holding the 17^th Annual Retreat of the PSC on the Review of its Working Methods and Abuja Lessons-learned Forum, from 6 to 9 November in Abuja, Nigeria. The PSC will also host the 8^th Annual Consultative Meeting with the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (UNPBC) during the month. All sessions are expected to take place at the ambassadorial level.

The PSC will begin the month with its 17^th Annual Retreat on the Review of its Working Methods and Abuja Lessons Learned Forum, to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 6 to 9 November. It is expected that this year’s retreat will primarily focus on the Ad-hoc mechanisms established to enhance the effectiveness of the PSC, particularly in the implementation of its decisions. A new addition in this year’s retreat will be a mock PSC simulation featuring 15 university students, who will simulate the deliberations of PSC member states. After the retreat, the Abuja Lessons-Learned Forum on peace operations will be held.

On 11 November, the PSC will hold its first substantive session of the month, in an open format, focusing on Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) in Africa. This is a standing annual thematic agenda that the PSC decided to institutionalise as an annual session in November 2018. This session is expected to be held under the theme ‘Migration, Youth and Security,’ linking the monthly Chair’s regular focus on humanitarian issues with the YPS agenda. As Africa’s youth, deprived of opportunities at home by the web of extractive national and international governance systems, are the ones that are forced into migration often under conditions that endanger their security and lives, the focus on migration could be used to shed light on the intersection between migration and youth and peace and security in Africa.

On 13 November, the PSC will hold an informal consultation with countries in political transition, namely Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Sudan. It is worth recalling that informal consultations with countries undergoing political transitions were added to the PSC’s working methods since April 2023, following its 14^th Retreat on its working methods in November 2022. These consultations were introduced to enable direct engagement with representatives of countries suspended from AU activities due to unconstitutional changes of government, in accordance with Article 8(11) of the PSC Protocol. This session will seek to evaluate the progress achieved and challenges faced in the ongoing transition processes, while also examining how the PSC can more effectively support and contribute to the political normalisation of these Member States, building on its March 2025 session.

On 14 November, the Council will have a session on media, peace and security. This will be held in line with the commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed every 2 November. This year’s commemoration will be held under the theme of Chat GBV: Raising Awareness on AI-facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women Journalists, highlighting ‘the threats women journalists face in the digital space and the chilling effect this can have on freedom of expression more broadly.’ This builds on the PSC’s inaugural session held in September 2024, dedicated to the protection of journalists in conflict situations. The 1230^th PSC open session saw the Council tasking the AU Commission ‘to put in place comprehensive, forward-looking and action-oriented actions on the protection and safety of Journalists in times of armed conflict.’ In addition, the Council directed the AU Commission, in cooperation with the ACHPR, APRM, AUCIL and AU ECOSOCC, ‘to produce a comprehensive study on the legal, institutional and policy framework and map the protection of journalists and access to information in Africa.’ This year’s session on the protection of journalists is expected to focus on women journalists and the online attacks they face, which become particularly dangerous in times of crisis and conflict.

As part of the AU Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) Awareness Raising Week from 17 to 21 November, the PSC is scheduled to convene a session on the launch of the PCRD week and consider the report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on PCRD on 17 November. On the same day, the Council will also hold a joint meeting with the UN Peacebuilding Commission (UNPBC). Related to PCRD, the Joint Statement adopted during the last joint consultations, the 7^th, the two bodies emphasised the role of the PBC in convening stakeholders and garnering international support, as well as the role of the AU in implementing and advancing PCRD policy, noting that ‘strengthened cooperation between the AUC-PCRD in Cairo and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office, in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (PBSO/DPPA), is essential for implementing the AU-UN MoU on Peacebuilding.’ The two are also expected to exchange on the ongoing UN’s Peacebuilding Architecture Review. Recalling AU’s contribution to the last Peacebuilding Architecture Review,  in the previous 7^th Joint Annual Consultations, the PBC ‘invited the AUPSC to again contribute to the review in 2025,’ and to this end, the two bodies called for the ‘implementation of the remaining tasks emanating from the Joint Annual AUPSC and PBC meetings.’ It is expected that this year’s meeting may follow on the agreement that ‘their annual consultative meetings should be preceded by at least one preparatory meeting of the experts of the AUPSC and PBC to examine the status of implementation of agreed commitments and sundry issues.’

On 19 November, the Council will convene for a briefing on the Situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite the openings that the diplomatic initiatives involving the Washington and Doha agreements provide for progress, the situation on the ground remains unchanged – dominated by fighting involving M23 and the DRC forces, proxy confrontations, competition over minerals like coltan and weak state authority. The last meeting the PSC discussed this file was in February 2025 during its 1261^st meeting held at the summit level. The agenda was also included in the provisional programme of work for March 2025 under the topic ‘Briefing on the Matrix Relating to the Situation in Eastern DRC’; however, it did not take place. This meeting comes as France is set to host a peace conference on the African Great Lakes. The French president, in coordination with Togo, the AU mediator, plans to host the conference in Paris on 30 October, and between 50 to 70 countries and international organisations are expected to attend, which will mostly be closed-door.

On 21 November, the PSC will receive an update on the Situation in the Lake Chad Basin. The session is expected to provide an update on the security and humanitarian situation in the region. In the 1282^nd PSC meeting held in June 2025, Council requested the AU Commission ‘to enhance its support to and collaboration with the LCBC in the implementation of the revised Five-Year RS-SRR.’ This came after it was highlighted that ‘despite the sustained efforts being deployed by the LCBC and MNJTF, Boko Haram remains an existential threat to peace and security in the Lake Chad Basin and the wider region.’ The gravity of this threat has not diminished, and the MNJTF has not been able to break this status quo. At the same time, the emergence of developments weakening the MNJTF and persisting vulnerabilities due to climate, security and governance fragilities are fast bringing the MNJTF to a turning point.

The last session of the month will be an open session on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts, to be held on 28 November. The last time the PSC discussed this theme was in July 2025 during its 1290^th meeting, in which, among other things, it reiterated the importance of ‘the operationalisation of the Banjul Process as a key initiative to sustain high-level advocacy, coordination and knowledge-sharing on the protection of children affected by armed conflict.’ This meeting also comes a few days after the commemoration of World Children’s Day, which is celebrated on 20 November.

In addition to the foregoing activities, the PPoW envisages, in the footnote, the 7^th EU-AU Summit, to be held on 24 to 25 November in Luanda, Angola and the AU Summit on AU Reforms to be held on 26 November 2025 in Luanda, Angola.