Peace & Security Council Report

The April 2022 Peace & Security Council Report examines the security crisis in Burkina Faso, the implementation of the African Union's (AU) youth, peace and security agenda, the appointment of the fifth Panel of the Wise, and Senegal's priorities as AU chair.

• Burkina Faso experienced a significant surge in violence between 25 January and 8 April 2022, with 610 violent incidents resulting in 567 deaths. This represents a quadrupling of incident numbers and a tripling of deaths compared to the same period in 2021. The insecurity has led to a massive displacement crisis, with the number of internally displaced persons rising from 1,741,655 at the end of January 2022 to 1,814,283 by the end of February 2022, accounting for 64% of all displaced persons in the Sahel.
• The transitional government in Burkina Faso, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, has implemented changes to the security apparatus to combat insecurity, including replacing heads of major commands, creating a new national operations command, and recalling retired military personnel. The government has also expressed a commitment to dialogue with armed groups through the ministry in charge of national reconciliation and the ministry of religious and customary affairs.
• The African Union's Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda, established via the 2018 Youth for Peace Africa programme and a 10-year implementation plan endorsed in May 2020, faced disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To improve implementation, the report suggests increasing member state-led dialogues, enhancing cooperation with Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and ensuring the Peace and Security Council (PSC) more regularly consults with diverse youth-led and youth-focused civil society groups.
• The fifth Panel of the Wise has been appointed to address urgent African conflicts, including supporting political transitions in Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, and Somalia. However, the panel faces structural challenges such as a vague mandate, limited budget, and overlapping roles with AU special representatives and REC panels, which may inhibit its comparative advantage in conflict resolution.
• As AU chair, Senegal is prioritizing peace and security, specifically addressing the rise of coups d'etat and the need to strengthen democratic governance and the rule of law. Other priorities include supporting an African pharmaceutical industry for medical independence, reforming international economic and financial governance for better development finance, and advocating for the use of natural gas as a transition energy source to combat global warming.

APA

Woldemichael, S., Kone, F., & Kujeke, M. (2022). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-145.pdf

Chicago

Woldemichael, Shewit, Fahiraman Kone, and Muneinazvo Kujeke. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2022. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-145.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Woldemichael |first1=Shewit |last2=Kone |first2=Fahiraman |last3=Kujeke |first3=Muneinazvo |title=Peace & Security Council Report |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=April 2022 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-145.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{woldemichael2022peace, author = {Woldemichael, Shewit and Kone, Fahiraman and Kujeke, Muneinazvo}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-145.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }