The African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), co-hosted, along with the African Union (AU) Compliance and Accountability Framework (AUCF) Project team, a consultation session on the involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the implementation and sustainability of the AUCF with CSOs from AU member states that are currently hosting Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and neighbouring countries.
PSOs that are mandated, authorised, endorsed or recognised by the AU are deployed in fragile environments. These deployments pose a significant risk or likelihood of misconduct by mission personnel, including violations of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Humanitarian law (IHL).
Respect of human rights and rule of law
By ensuring that the PSOs respect international law and prevent, respond to and remedy misconducts, inclusive of violations of IHRL and IHL, the PSOs can build trust between the mission and the communities, as well as with other stakeholders in the mission area. In light of the importance of PSOs’ compliance and accountability, the AU has been integrating IHRL, IHL and AU standards of conducts and discipline (including prevention and response to sexual exploitation and abuse) in the mandates and operational frameworks of its missions and has been supporting the missions mandated by the Regional Economic Communities, Regional Mechanisms and ad hoc coalitions.
ECOSOCC’s Head of Secretariat, Mr. William Carew, acknowledged that CSOs experience a lot of challenges in their work in actively participating in peace and security efforts across Africa. He further called on participants at the consultative session to come up with a comprehensive plan of action that would support capacity-building initiatives to empower CSOs in their efforts in connection to peace security operations.
ECOSOCC Secretariat’s Head of Programmes Mr. Kyeretwie Osei, highlighted how ECOSOCC intends to collaborate with the AUCF team to harness the participation of African CSOs, ensuring effective coordination mechanisms and mapping of CSOs for future engagement.
The AUCF Project Coordinator, Mr Joseph Noubadoum, commended the work done by CSOs on initiatives dealing with peace, security and governance. He affirmed that CSOs are active players in raising awareness, participation towards policy making, project implementation and evaluation and the overall mainstreaming of people-centric initiatives.
Inclusive, people-centred platform
The consultative session was a platform that, among others, saw selected African CSOs make presentations of their activities relevant to AU Compliance and Accountability Framework team and more importantly draw up a working framework that identified areas of collaboration between CSOs and the AU Compliance and Accountability Framework team piggybacking on the convening power of the ECOSOCC.
Conclusion
The AUCF Project rolled out in 2022 to enhance the African Union’s capacity in ensuring that it’s PSOs are conducted in compliance with IHRL, IHL and the AU standards of conduct and discipline as set out in the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, relevant Peace and Security Council Communiques and other guiding decisions and policies of the African Union.
