The vision of the African Union (AU) is to achieve “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”. The attainment of that vision hinges on three foundational imperatives: democratic governance, peace and security, and sustainable development. The focus of this report is on the interlinkages between democratic governance on the one hand and peace and security on the other. The report examines the two overarching mechanisms that were established by the AU to strengthen democratic governance and attain peace and security; namely the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).
The aim of the report is to ignite reflections, dialogue, and action by Member States, AGA Platform Members and relevant stakeholders including civil society, think tanks, African citizens and partners on practical strategies to enhance synergy between the AGA and APSA. While the AU Assembly has reiterated calls to strengthen synergy and complementarity between the two Architectures, thus far, such coordination and cooperation remains ad hoc and elusive. Indeed, the APSA Strategy 2016-2020 acknowledges that “linkages between APSA and AGA as well as the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in the domain of structural conflict prevention remain tenuous, partly due to a lack of communication and collaboration between different departments at the AU Commission (AUC), and between the AU and the RECs”.
