PSC program of work for April 2019

Automatic Heading TextDate | April 2019

The Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) provisional program of work for the month of April, under the chairmanship of Nigeria, envisages some eleven sessions. There will be nine closed briefings (including two country specific updates) and two open sessions.

On 2 April, the monthly PSC program of work starts with a session where the Military Staff Committee considers the report of the Office of the Legal Counsel on the review of all legal frameworks between African Union Commission and African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC). This will be followed by the first open session of the month, which will convene on 3 April with focus on prevention of the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes in Africa. It is to be recalled that as part of the annual commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the PSC held a session on this thematic issue exactly a year earlier in April 2018 during its 761st session. On 4 April the PSC will hold a sensitisation session on international disarmament with focus on the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Treaty) and Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The following week, on 9 April the Council will meet to discuss on two agenda items. The first agenda will be on counter terrorism and violent extremism in the Lake Chad and the Sahel regions. This will have a focus on strengthening AU support to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and G5 Sahel Joint Force. The second session will consider the renewal of the mandate of the G5 Sahel Joint Force.

The second open session of the month is scheduled to take place on April 16 with a focus on children
affected by armed conflicts in Africa. This is in line with the decision of the 21st Ordinary Executive Council Session held in Addis Ababa in June 2012, EX.CL/Dec.712 (XXI) in which it requested the PSC to take into consideration the rights of the child in its agenda and to actively work with the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

On 17 April, the PSC will have a session on a proposal towards the practical utilization of the AU Peace Fund (in support of conflict prevention and mediation; capacity building and AU Peace Support Operation). This follows the launch of the revitalized Peace Fund on 17 November 2018 to which AU member States have contributed $89 million as at January 2019. On the same session, the PSC is expected to adopt the provisional program of work for the month of May.

The following day on 18 April, the PSC will have a briefing session on durable solutions to internal displacement in Africa with a specific focus on humanitarian action through the incoming African Union Humanitarian Agency (AUHA). This thematic focus resonates with the rising challenge of displacement and falls under the AU theme of the year.

On April 23, the PSC will have a session on the evolution of the working methods of the PSC and next steps on the reform of the PSC as an AU organ. The second session aims to finalize and adopt the draft conclusion of the PSC retreat focusing on the reform of the PSC and African Peace and Security Architecture study held in Cairo, Egypt, October 2018. The other event that is anticipated to take place on this day is an informal lunch meeting hosted by the chairperson of the month, Nigeria, to have a discussion on the enhanced role of the PSC subsidiary committees. At various times, the PSC provided for the establishment of various subcommittees including the committee of experts, the military staff committee, the sub-committee on terrorism, the sanctions committee and the committee on post-conflict reconstruction and development.

On April 25, the Council is expected to receive a joint briefing on transnational organized crime, peace and security in Africa by the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services in Africa (CISSA), AU Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC). The second session of the day is expected to provide the regular briefing on the update on the operationalization of the African Standby Force (ASF) Harmonization of ACIRC and legal framework/doctrine.

On the last week of the month on April 29 there will be a briefing on the progress of the Security Sector Reform in the Gambia. The second agenda of the day will emphasize on updating the Council on the situation in Guinea Bissau. As the last session of the month, on April 30, the Council is expected to discuss the preparation for the 13thAnnual Joint Consultative Meeting (AJCM) with the UNSC and the 12th AJCM with the EUPSC.

In addition to these agenda items, the provisional program of the month also envisions to have two additional items in the course of the month. The first will be a presentation of the report on the visit by the Military Staff Committee of the AU to Continental Logistics Base in Douala, Cameroon. The second item aims to focus on a briefing on AU Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA)- Consolidating conflict prevention in Africa.