In its capacity as the Civil Society Organ of the African Union (AU), the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), has been requested by the African Union Commission to facilitate an inaugural interaction between African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU.
The inaugural meeting will have five (5) CSOs, representing the five (5) regions of Africa, and working in the field of governance, democracy peace and security. The CSOs are the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), representing Eastern Africa; West African Civil Society Institute (WASCI), representing Western Africa; Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for Peace, representing Central Africa; Southern Africa Partnerships for Prevention of Conflicts (SAPPC), representing Southern Africa; and the Association International Cle de la Paix Pour le Developpement et la Solidarite, representing Northern Africa.
The Livingstone Formula and the Maseru Conclusions call for periodic structured engagements between the PSC and CSOs in Africa. This inaugural meeting will focus on the issues of Unconstitutional Changes of Government and Terrorism and it will be expected to identify and clarify the role of African civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the outcomes of various continental dialogues that have taken place on this subject, including the Reflection Forum on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, held in Accra in March 2022; the AU Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government, held in Malabo in May 2022, and the ECOSOCC Citizens’ Forum on Democracy and Unconstitutional Changes of Government, held in Lusaka in July 2022.
In this regard, African CSOs are invited to attend and support the 5 civil society representatives during this important inaugural PSC-CSO meeting whose success will provide more room for CSOs to engage the PSC. The meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, 14 September, 2022 at 10:00 EAT.
Interested CSOs or persons can register and attend the meeting via Zoom: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcvdOGvpzMrGdJlOd3w5oB3uySqSb3Po432
