INTRODUCTION

The African Union (AU) and its peace and security order, known in conventional discourse as the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), are at a cross roads. Internally, in addition to the expansion of the number and geographic spread of conflicts, the continent suffers from major deficit of collective leadership both on the part of states and at the level of pan-African multilateral bodies. Africa also faces a crisis of political and strategic cohesion owing, among others, to the erosion of commitment to and pursuit of the collective vision of Pan-Africanism. At the global level, the international system is in a state of deep crises.

INTRODUCTION

In Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.920(XXXVIII), adopted at its 38th Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa on 15–16 February 2025, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) expressed concern over the increasingly complex threats and challenges facing the Continent, as well as the rapidly evolving global and continental security environment. It noted that these developments were placing growing pressure on the AU’s peace and security architecture and reaffirmed that peace and security remain indispensable prerequisites for continental integration and development.

INTRODUCTION

Over the past several years, the African continent has witnessed a rise in both the number and geographic spread of conflicts. Alarmingly, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA)—established under the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to provide the African Union (AU) with normative instruments and institutional mechanisms for promoting and maintaining peace, security, and stability—has increasingly struggled to respond effectively to the continent’s growing security challenges. Recent conflicts in Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo–Rwanda, and tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia underscore the AU’s waning agency in addressing these crises, with external actors often stepping in. The erosion of multilateralism, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and increasing foreign involvement in African peace and security affairs demand that the AU urgently recalibrate and strengthen its peace and security framework.

INTRODUCTION

Against the background of the persistence and escalation of threats to physical & social security of women and girls amid escalating and persisting conflicts, shrinking civic space, and the marginalisation of women from peace processes in various settings on the continent, this special research report examines the Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) fifteen-year engagement with the WPS agenda, assessing both progress achieved and enduring gaps. It situates PSC deliberations within Africa’s evolving conflict dynamics and evaluates the extent to which normative advances have translated into operational impact across conflict prevention, mediation, peace support operations, and accountability mechanisms. The report argues that renewed political will, institutional coherence, and sustained resourcing are essential to ensure that the WPS agenda functions not only as a set of principles, but as a strategic tool for addressing Africa’s contemporary peace and security challenges.

SUMMARY

This Special report explores the potential for networked multilateralism to facilitate a more inclusive system of global governance through building networked policy exchanges and policy making between Addis Ababa and Geneva, two major global policy hubs. In response to shifting global power dynamics and complex challenges, it argues for a more connected, flexible, and inclusive multilateral system that leverages and draws on the role of multilateral diplomatic hubs and centres of decision-making in different parts of the world. Addis Ababa, as Africa’s diplomatic capital, excels in diplomatic negotiation for consensus-building and advancing regional priorities and global solidarity for a fairer global system, while Geneva offers a dense ecosystem of international organizations and technical expertise. Closer collaboration between the two diplomatic hubs could enable both to leverage their strengths, thereby becoming the example in practicing and organising networked multilateralism. Addis Ababa could access Geneva’s science diplomacy, data governance, and urban planning expertise, while Geneva could benefit from Addis’s experience in political negotiation, youth and gender inclusion, and Africa’s role as a major centre where current policy issues around energy transition and critical minerals and understanding African interests. Structured exchanges, joint research, and dedicated liaison platforms are recommended to operationalize this partnership. By moving beyond fragmented interactions, a structured and dynamic Addis-Geneva nexus can enhance collective action, better reflect African priorities in global forums, and model innovative approaches to global governance challenges.

On 24 September 2025, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will convene at summit level on the margins of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to deliberate on the theme Re-energising Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa. This is a timely subject due to two interrelated developments. First, the continent has witnessed a marked increase in the number of conflicts, their geographic spread, and their human toll and socio-economic consequences. Second, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) has struggled to respond effectively to these mounting challenges. The lead on initiatives for crises  in Libya and most recently in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo–Rwanda, and tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia are taken by states outside of the continent, with the AU playing at best a ceremonial role. Together with the erosion of multilateralism, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and rising foreign involvement in African peace and security affairs, these developments underscore the urgent need for the AU to recalibrate and strengthen its conflict prevention and resolution role.

This report is the outcome of the project of the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Department for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in Addis Ababa and Amani Africa Media and Research Services (Amani Africa), initiated to foster structured dialogue with African youth on the nexus between YPS and the New Agenda for Peace. Accordingly, regional dialogues were held between 31 July and 7 August 2024 across Central, East, North, South and West Africa. These dialogues provided a platform for young people to share their perspectives on the future of peace and security in Africa and globally. The regional consultations were followed by a three-day continental consultation to synthesise all the regional perspectives and proffer practical recommendations. This report captures the voice of African youth representatives that seeks to contribute to the broader conversations around the implementation of the New Agenda for Peace, highlighting how youth voices are and should be made central to the global peace and security discourse.

The 2025 African Union (AU) theme of the year is ‘Justice for Africans and peoples of African descent through reparations.’ This special  research report  introduces the  background to the theme of the year and examines how  the focus on  remedying  the way the international system is shaped by these historical injustices can help narrow the gap between the commitments of international human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals on the one hand and how the international financial and trading system operate in practice vis-à-vis Africa and parts of the world affected by slavery and colonialism.

This report outlines what could constitute Africa’s key messages to the Berlin Ministerial Conference, informed by the continent’s extensive experience with peacekeeping operations and the imperative to harness the complementarity between UN and African Union (AU) efforts, while also situating the debate on the future of peacekeeping within the broader context of an evolving multilateral system. It then proceeds to highlight specific steps for enhancing the UN-AU partnership, drawing directly from the conclusions of the study on the future of peacekeeping. In its concluding section, the report underscores the relevance of peacekeeping to today’s peace and security challenges while continuing to adapt to remain fit for purpose, as well as its significance as an essential component of the very multilateral architecture that, in spite of its shortcomings, nonetheless offers Africa its most effective platform for advancing its agenda and interests on the global stage.

The most profound and pressing policy issue for peace and security diplomacy in Sudan is how to advance the protection of civilians. While there is growing appreciation of the need for protection of civilians, there remain lack of policy clarity on how this can be achieved practically in a war where conditions are lacking for the use of conventional mechanisms for protection of civilians, such as notably the deployment of an international protection force. The purpose of this special research report, which draws on a series of meetings held with Sudanese civilians and experts in Kampala, New York and Addis Ababa during the past few months, is to provide analysis of various options for the protection of civilians in Sudan that can be pursued with urgency as the search for successful negotiation for a ceasefire and final political settlement continues.