Peace & Security Council Report

The April 2025 Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies evaluates the African Union's (AU) peace and security architecture, focusing on the second term of PAPS Commissioner Bankole Adeoye, regional divisions in North Africa, the new AUSSOM mission in Somalia, and the challenges of mediation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• Ambassador Bankole Adeoye was re-elected as the AU Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) commissioner for a second four-year term on 14 February 2025. He faces a landscape of worsening security threats, including armed conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), violent extremism in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, and a wave of coups in countries such as Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Sudan.
• The AU's approach to governance is criticized for being predominantly reactive, characterized by a 'perplexing silence' on constitutional manipulations and third-term presidencies. There is a perceived disconnect between continental norms and the reality of post-coup transitions, leading to a loss of control over these processes.
• Interstate tensions in North Africa, particularly between Algeria and Morocco over the status of the Sahrawi Republic, have hindered the region's ability to present a united front. This fragmentation resulted in a delayed selection for a Peace and Security Council (PSC) seat, as Libya, Morocco, and Algeria all failed to secure the required two-thirds majority during initial voting.
• The AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), launched on 1 January 2025, risks repeating the failures of its predecessors (AMISOM and ATMIS) due to unresolved issues. These include the lack of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy beyond military operations, political discord between Somalia's federal government and regional states like Jubaland and Puntland, and significant financial uncertainties, including unpaid troops.
• The conflict in eastern DRC has escalated with the March 23 Movement (M23) capturing major towns. The involvement of Qatar as a mediator in talks between President Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, alongside Angola's withdrawal from its mediation role, highlights a trend of external intervention and the deficiencies of AU and regional conflict resolution mechanisms.
• The Peace and Security Council (PSC) is described as lacking enforcement capacity, political will, and financial resources. Critics argue that the Council has been inconsistent in upholding its principles, citing its handling of Chad as a 'low point' and the lifting of sanctions against Gabon as setting a 'dangerous precedent'.

APA

Soumahoro, M., Minde, N., Mahdi, M., Zeyede, T., Yohannes, D., & Atta-Asamoah, A. (2025). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1747297252012-PSC-Report-178.pdf

Chicago

Soumahoro, Moussa, Nicodemus Minde, Maram Mahdi, Tamrat Zeyede, Dawit Yohannes, and Andrews Atta-Asamoah. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2025. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1747297252012-PSC-Report-178.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{soumahoro2025peace, author = {Soumahoro, Moussa and Minde, Nicodemus and Mahdi, Maram and Zeyede, Tamrat and Yohannes, Dawit and Atta-Asamoah, Andrews}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1747297252012-PSC-Report-178.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }