Inaugural Lessons Learned Forum on African Union Peace Support Operations and the African Standby Force

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November 01, 2022 to November 03, 2022

MEDIA ADVISORY

Inaugural Lessons Learned Forum on African Union Peace Support Operations and the African Standby Force

What: Inaugural Lessons Learned Forum on African Union Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and the African Standby Force (ASF).

When: 1-3 November 2022, Starting from 9:30 AM.

Where: Muhammadu Buhari Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria.

Who: The Forum will be organized by the African Union Commission Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS).

Why: The inaugural Lessons Learned Forum on AU PSOs and the ASF seeks to bring together the members of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC), Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) and senior leadership and management teams of current AU PSOs mandated, authorized or endorsed by the AUPSC. In this regard, the forum will focus primarily on, the newly established AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in replacement of AMISOM, the African Union Military Observers Mission to the Central African Republic (MOUACA), the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram (MNJTF) in the Lake Chad Basin, the Group of Five Sahel Joint Force (G5 Sahel), the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM). It will also assess previous deployments from the RECs/RMs, including SADC Preventative Mission in the Kingdom of Lesotho (SAPMIL), the ECOWAS peace operations in West Africa (ECOMIG, ECOMIL, ECOMIB); and the ECCAS Mission for the Consolidation of Peace and Security in Central Africa (MICOPAX).

Objectives:

The core objectives of the Forum will be to assess how implementation of AU PSOs have been facilitated; ascertain the various ways in which the ASF have been utilized since its establishment; and identify key lessons that can contribute towards the full operationalization and utilization of the ASF. Specifically, the forum will also discuss issues relating to the following:

a. The role of the AU PSC and the processes for mandating, authorization and/or endorsement as well as oversight of PSOs and the ASF;

b. Force generation, integrated capacity building, mission start-up, and deployment of PSOs and the ASF;

c. Implementation of mandate and tasks as well as mission management;

d. Strategic Engagements and Partnerships between the AU Commission, RECs/RMs, Host State and other strategic partners;

e. Compliance and accountability to International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Human Rights as well as Conduct and Discipline standards;

f. Exit Strategy, transition and liquidation of PSOs and ASF operations;

g. Similar and divergent trends, good practices, challenges as well as opportunities to enhance current and future PSOs and ASF operations;

h. Mitigation of possible challenges on the deployment of Regional Standby Forces under the auspices of the ASF to ensure its full utilization.

Expected Outcomes:

The lessons learned forum aims to produce the following:

a. Experiences shared and lessons learned;

b. Enhanced integrated capacity for AU PSOs and ASF operations towards improvement in the combat of terrorism and violent extremism;

c. An outcome report of the Forum to be submitted to the AU PSC for consideration;

d. Publication of the outcome report of the inaugural Lessons Learned Forum as a knowledge product.

Participants:

The lessons learned forum will bring together the Senior Mission Leadership, including military, civilian and police representatives as applicable from the various five missions listed in paragraph above, in plenary format. It shall also include members of the Military Staff Committee (MSC) of the AU PSC, RECs/RMs, relevant representatives from the AU Commission, Troop/Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs), relevant representatives from the Host States Ministers of Defense of these PSOs as well as strategic partners and experts.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Information and Communication Directorate (ICD), African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org