Promoting governance, peace and security in Africa

Context

Several coups, unconstitutional changes of government as well as disputes over political power and resources have led to a rise in civil unrest and political instability across Africa in recent years. This is devastating for the long-term stable development of the continent.

In response, the African Union (AU) and its partners have been building up the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA). These two architectures provide the AU with comprehensive mandates to prevent and end violent conflicts and improve governance in its Member States.

Despite substantive progress, the quality and effectiveness of AU interventions remain limited. The newly formed Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) has thus combined the staff and functions of APSA and AGA under one leadership structure. The GIZ APSA project directly addresses these challenges by focusing on the further organisational development and coherent integration of instruments and approaches to effectively respond to the existing need for crisis prevention, management and peace building.

Objective

The AU has improved its ability to employ APSA and AGA instruments to prevent and manage conflicts and to support peace building in its Member States.

Approach

The project focuses on supporting the AU, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Member States and civil society organisations in carrying out joint activities on governance, crisis prevention, conflict management and peace building in the following areas: 

• consolidating AU support for crisis prevention in Member States and promoting the development of strategic guidelines,
• piloting joint initiatives between the AU, Member States and civil society organisations,
• accompanying the internal change management process,
• establishing a think-tank network with needs-based learning experiences and policy recommendations for the AU Commission. 

Last update: May 2023