Peace & Security Council Report

This March 2018 report from the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC), focusing on its struggles to implement counter-terrorism frameworks, funding crises facing the AMISOM mission in Somalia, constitutional disputes in Burundi, and structural instability in the CEMAC region of Central Africa.

• The Peace and Security Council (PSC) struggles to implement its counter-terrorism decisions due to a lack of legally binding instruments, poor coordination, and inconsistent commitment from member states. While the 1999 Algiers Convention provides a framework, the PSC lacks a binding compliance mechanism, leaving it to merely remind states of their obligations.
• The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) faces severe funding uncertainty after the European Union capped troop allowances in January 2016 and reduced peacekeeper stipends from US$1,028 to US$822 per month. This unpredictability has led to troop withdrawals, including by Ethiopia, and has hampered the mission's exit strategy, which now targets a conditions-based pull-out by 2021.
• Burundi's 2018 constitutional review process is criticized for lacking consultation and potentially allowing President Pierre Nkurunziza to extend his power beyond 2020. The proposed changes would replace the two-thirds legislative majority—a key part of the Arusha peace agreement's ethnic power-sharing—with a simple majority, thereby reducing the influence of the Tutsi minority.
• The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) region faces a 'gathering storm' of instability driven by oil-dependency, poor governance, and rapid population growth. The region's working-age population is expected to nearly double by 2040, requiring the creation of employment for over 25 million additional people amidst high existing youth unemployment.
• The PSC's Committee of Experts, intended to improve decision-making and reduce the workload of ambassadors, is hindered by limited technical capacity within member state embassies in Addis Ababa. There is a notable gap in expertise regarding conflicts outside a member state's own region, and the Military Staff Committee has rarely met.
• Progress on establishing a Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS) has been slow despite being part of a 2015 peace deal. While a draft statute has been approved by the AU Commission and South Sudan's Council of Ministers, it still lacks parliamentary approval.

APA

Bedzigui, Y., Ani, N. C., Louw-Vaudran, L., Donnenfeld, Z., & Akum, F. (2018). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pscreport100.pdf

Chicago

Bedzigui, Yann, Ndubuisi Christian Ani, Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Zachary Donnenfeld, and Fonteh Akum. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2018. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pscreport100.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bedzigui |first1=Yann |last2=Ani |first2=Ndubuisi Christian |last3=Louw-Vaudran |first3=Liesl |last4=Donnenfeld |first4=Zachary |last5=Akum |first5=Fonteh |title=Peace & Security Council Report |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2018 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pscreport100.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bedzigui2018peace, author = {Bedzigui, Yann and Ani, Ndubuisi Christian and Louw-Vaudran, Liesl and Donnenfeld, Zachary and Akum, Fonteh}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pscreport100.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }