On 24-26 October 2022, a working group comprising of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) held a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to review and finalize the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the African Standby Force (ASF). Taking note of the long-standing partnership between the Commission and ACCORD as well as the continued collaboration in areas of mutual interest, the AUC invited ACCORD to make its contributions to the draft MoU.
The stakeholders that attended the working group meeting, included members of RECs/RMs and representatives of member states, each representing a unique and important position concerning the ASF. The AUC and RECs/RMs managed to jointly finalize the draft MoU on the ASF during the meeting. The MoU is expected to improve the continued efforts by the AUC and RECs/RMs to enhance Peace and Security on the African continent.
The ASF MoU between the AUC and RECs/RMs provides a legal framework that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, in the preparation, employment, deployment and post-employment of the ASF composed of regional standby forces that will be mandated by the AU for Peace Support Operations, and in complex emergency situations.
The final version of the MoU on the ASF will be presented by the AUC during the next joint seating of Specialized Technical Committee on Defense, Safety and Security (STCDSS) in 2023.
ACCORD through its Training for Peace (TfP) Programme remains committed to supporting the AU’s concerted efforts towards African peace and security.
