Toward a More Effective UN-AU Partnership on Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management

This report by the International Peace Institute and the Institute for Security Studies examines the strategic partnership between the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) regarding conflict prevention and crisis management. It analyzes the political dynamics between the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), the operational coordination between the UN Secretariat and AU Commission, and the thematic effectiveness of their collaboration across areas such as mediation, elections, and the 'Silencing the Guns' initiative.

• The relationship between the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) is characterized by a fundamental inequality in power and resources, yet an informal division of labor has developed where the AUPSC leads conflict prevention and crisis management while the UNSC provides international political pressure and attention.
• The three African nonpermanent members of the UNSC (the A3) act as a critical bridge between the two councils, providing legitimacy to UNSC strategies on Africa and closing information gaps for other elected members, although they are sometimes pressured by permanent members to diverge from AU positions.
• While the partnership between the UN Secretariat and AU Commission is stronger than the council-to-council relationship, it is heavily dependent on the personal rapport between the UN Secretary-General and the AU Commission Chairperson.
• Institutional mechanisms such as the Joint Task Force on Peace and Security, the annual desk-to-desk meeting, and the UN-AU Annual Conference facilitate coordination, but the desk-to-desk meetings are often criticized for being too packed and lacking action-oriented outcomes.
• Collaboration on mediation and electoral support is highly advanced, with the AU focusing on election observation and the UN providing technical assistance, whereas cooperation on peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD) is the weakest link in the partnership.
• The AU's 'Silencing the Guns' initiative serves as a flagship for conflict prevention, but its success depends on the A3's ability to integrate its concepts into UNSC work and the development of joint UN-AU work plans beyond 2020.
• The UN and AU have made progress on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agendas, but cooperation remains narrow, often focusing primarily on the inclusion of women in mediation rather than broader prevention of sexual and gender-based violence.
• Significant resource and capacity asymmetries exist, with the UN possessing far more staff and a more predictable budget, which often leads to a dynamic where the AU leads politically while the UN bears the logistical and financial burden.
• UN country teams, specifically through the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and peace and development advisers (PDAs), are increasingly recognized as vital for conflict prevention in non-mission settings, though their integration into the broader UN-AU partnership is not yet systematic.

APA

FORTI, D., & SINGH, P. (2019). Toward a More Effective UN-AU Partnership on Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/other-au-un-partnership.pdf

Chicago

FORTI, DANIEL, and PRIYAL SINGH. Toward a More Effective UN-AU Partnership on Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management. Institute for Security Studies, 2019. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/other-au-un-partnership.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=FORTI |first1=DANIEL |last2=SINGH |first2=PRIYAL |title=Toward a More Effective UN-AU Partnership on Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=October 2019 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/other-au-un-partnership.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forti2019toward, author = {FORTI, DANIEL and SINGH, PRIYAL}, title = {{Toward a More Effective UN-AU Partnership on Conflict Prevention and Crisis Management}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/other-au-un-partnership.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }