Peace & Security Council Report

The September 2019 Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the coordination between the African Union (AU) and the UN Security Council (UNSC), the challenges of the AU's 'Amnesty Month' initiative, and specific political crises in the Central African Republic, Sudan, South Africa, and Cameroon.

• The 'A3' (the three African non-permanent members of the UN Security Council) act as a bridge between the AU and the UN, though they are not legally bound to support Peace and Security Council (PSC) positions. Recent efforts by the AU Commission to increase meetings between the A3 and the PSC have improved alignment, as seen in the joint statement on sanctions for Sudan following the April 2019 coup and the decision to delay the drawdown of the AU–UN hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
• The AU's 'Amnesty Month' initiative, launched in 2017 to collect illicit arms, faces significant implementation challenges. These include a lack of congruence with national programs, an insufficient one-month timeframe, and the risk that 'blanket' amnesties allow perpetrators of extrajudicial killings to avoid justice. In Nigeria, the government's use of monthly stipends for Niger Delta combatants reportedly led to ex-combatants re-joining armed groups and increased black market arms trafficking.
• The February 6 peace agreement in the Central African Republic (CAR) is under threat due to repeated violations and the appointment of rebel leaders to government positions in areas they already controlled, which preserved the existing power balance. Additionally, the country is affected by a proxy battle between Russia and France, and instability in neighboring Sudan and Chad.
• The removal of Omar al-Bashir on April 11, 2019, has created a power shift in the Horn of Africa. While Sudan's regional influence may diminish under the new civilian-military government, there are opportunities to normalize relations with Eritrea and for neighbors like South Sudan to take a more active role in convening dialogue between the new Sudanese government and armed groups.
• South Africa's international image has been damaged by waves of xenophobic attacks against African foreign nationals, leading to decisive reactions from countries like Nigeria. The South African government has sent special envoys to Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia to address the issue, which is critical as South Africa prepares to chair the AU in 2020.
• Cameroon is facing a crisis in its English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, driven by governance failures and a flawed democratisation process. While a national dialogue has been announced, the report suggests it must be binding and inclusive, potentially involving an AU facilitator, to avoid becoming a self-serving exercise for the regime.

APA

Diatta, M., Louw-Vaudran, L., Attah-Asamoah, A., Woldemichael, S., Mahmoud, O., & Handy, P.-S. (2019). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-117.pdf

Chicago

Diatta, Mohamed, Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Andrews Attah-Asamoah, Shewit Woldemichael, Omar Mahmoud, and Paul-Simon Handy. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2019. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-117.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Diatta |first1=Mohamed |last2=Louw-Vaudran |first2=Liesl |last3=Attah-Asamoah |first3=Andrews |last4=Woldemichael |first4=Shewit |last5=Mahmoud |first5=Omar |last6=Handy |first6=Paul-Simon |title=Peace & Security Council Report |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=September 2019 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-117.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{diatta2019peace, author = {Diatta, Mohamed and Louw-Vaudran, Liesl and Attah-Asamoah, Andrews and Woldemichael, Shewit and Mahmoud, Omar and Handy, Paul-Simon}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-117.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }