On 16 April 2009 under the monthly chairmanship of Burkina Faso, the MSC decided to put in place a working group committee (WGC) to study how to re-vitalise the MSC. Each of the fi ve regions was supposed to propose a name for the revitalised MSC. Swaziland and Gabon proposed a name straight away for their own regions (Southern and Central Africa) while others, up till now, have not proposed any name. This means that this WGC is still not operational. The major issue facing the MSC is which culture to adopt to perform its functions and achieve its mandate. It is on the basis of the foregoing that this chapter makes the following recommendations:
■ The MSC should ensure that all member states do have DAs, that they are properly staffed with skills on military operations and planning at both strategic and operational levels, and that they conform to the PSC Protocol requirements
■ The MSC should have its own secretariat to prepare the agenda, convene meetings, follow up issues, ensure the necessary interaction with the PSC, and be aware of the need for making recommendations and the protocol within which to present them. Alternatively the PSOD should continue to serve the MSC in the same vein as the PSC Secretariat currently serves the Panel of the Wise
■ The AU must budget for interpreters at all MSC meetings
In the long run, once the ASF is fully operational, the MSC will have an important role to play, especially on the management of AU operations (planning, coordi-nating and monitoring).
NOTES
1 For an analysis of the PSC, see Delphine Lecoutre, Le Conseil de paix et de sécurité de l’Union africaine, clef d’une nouvelle architecture de stabilité en Afrique? Afrique contemporaine, Winter 2004, 131-162; Delphine Lecoutre, Les premiers pas du Conseil de paix et de sécurité, Géopolitique africaine (Paris/Washington), 19-20 (October 2005), 271-281; Delphine Lecoutre, De l’-AMIS- à l’-UNAMIS? Ou la relève de l’UA par l’ONU, Géopolitique africaine, 22 (April 2006), 37-50; Delphine Lecoutre, Les enjeux du Conseil de paix et de sécurité, Le Monde diplomatique, (September 2009); Delphine Lecoutre, Evolution of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and Prospects for Effectiveness, paper presented at the Experts Roundtable Conference on the State of the Union 2030: security threats and responses, organised by the Confl ict Prevention Programme of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Addis Ababa, Kampala, Uganda, 21-22 July 2009, forthcoming.
2 African Union, Protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, First Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, Durban (South Africa), 9 July 2002. Addis Ababa: African Union.
3 Interview with a PSC member, Addis Ababa, 20 February 2007.
4 For a detailed explanation of reasons calling for the enhancement of AMIS, see African Union 2004.PSC/PR/2(XVII), Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the situation in Darfur (The Sudan), 20 October, Addis Ababa: African Union. For the contents of the enhanced mandate, see African Union 2004.PSC/PR/Comm. (XVII), Communiqué of the 17th meeting of the Peace and Security Council, 20 October, Addis Ababa: African Union.
5 Organization of African Unity.AHG/DECL.3(XXIX). Declaration of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government on the establishment within the OAU of a mechanism for confl ict prevention, management and resolution, Declarations and Resolutions, Assembly of Heads of
State and Government,.29th Ordinary Session, Cairo (Egypt), 28-30 June 1993, Addis Ababa:
Organization of African Unity.
6 UN Charter, Articles 26 and 47, http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1946/scres46.htm (ac-cessed 15 March 2010).
7 For a previous analysis of the MSC, see Delphine Lecoutre, Revitaliser le Comité d’état-major de l’Union africaine, Géopolitique africaine 24 (October–December 2006), 239–255.
8 PSC Protocol, 24.
9 Interview with an MSC member, Addis Ababa, 24 February 2010.
10 Since April 2010 member states of the PSC are Libya, Mauritania (North Africa), Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Mali (West Africa), Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Burundi (Central Africa), Kenya, Rwanda, Djibouti (East Africa), Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa (Southern Africa).
Currently, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti and Benin do not have a DA posted in Addis Ababa;
Côte d’Ivoire cancelled the post late in 2009; Mauritania’s DA has left but has not been re-placed yet; and Mali’s post is vacant.
11 Interview with an MSC member, Addis Ababa, 17 March 2010.
12 Ibid.
13 PSC Protocol, 24.
14 African Union. Exp/ASF-MSC/2(1). Framework on the African Standby Force and the Military Staff Committee (Ist part). Document adopted by the Third Meeting of the African Military Chiefs of Staff, 15–16 May 2003, Addis Ababa, 34–35.
15 Interview with a military offi cer from the Peace and Security Department of the AU Commission, 23 November 2006.
16 Ibid.
17 Lecoutre, Revitaliser le Comité d’état-major, 248.
18 Interview with an MSC member, Addis Ababa, 10 March 2010.
19 African Union, Rules of Procedure of the Peace and Security Council, First Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, Durban (South Africa), 9 July 2002, 3. Addis Ababa:
African Union.
20 Interview with a military offi cer, Addis Ababa, 10 February 2010.
21 Lecoutre, Revitaliser le Comité d’état-major, 248.
22 Lecoutre, Revitaliser le Comité d’état-major, 244.
6 The PSC and civil society organisations
Tim Murithi
INTRODUCTION
In 2002 the African Union (AU) adopted the Protocol Establishing the Peace and Security Council (PSC Protocol), which effectively created not only the Peace and Security Council (PSC) but also the African Standby Force (ASF), the Military Staff Committee (MSC), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), the Panel of the Wise and the Peace Fund. This architecture is designed to oversee the imple-mentation of the AU’s early warning, peacemaking, peacekeeping, post-confl ict reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance initiatives.
Article 20 of the PSC Protocol mandates the Council to engage with civil society organisations (CSOs) in the course of carrying out its functions. According to the Statutes of the AU Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), CSOs include social and professional groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), as well as voluntary and cultural organi-sations.1 This chapter assesses the interaction between the PSC and CSOs and makes recommendations on areas in which CSOs can complement the work of the PSC.