Cameroon will this month preside over the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the standing decision-making organ of the African Union (AU) on the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.

The PSC will have meetings within the framework of the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on 28 May. In a statement, the PSC said the meetings would centre on “governance and security challenges in the continent namely, unconstitutional change of government, humanitarian crises and terrorism”.

There will be 10 meetings, with two of them being open sessions.

“The Chairship (Cameroon) will cover 10 substantives meetings, most of which will be closed and virtual, except for the two open sessions: that on Food Security, linked to the AU’s theme of the year, and the other on ‘Living Together in Peace’,” the PSC said.

Churchill Ewumbue-Monono – the Cameroon’s permanent representative to the AU and chairperson of the PSC at the ambassadorial level – said the series of meetings would be an opportunity to examine and compare the various efforts and challenges faced by African countries.

Top of the list is security challenges in the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, which covers seven countries – Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, and Nigeria.

On Tuesday, Al-Shabaab militants attacked an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) base south-west of Mogadishu, killing Burundian peacekeepers.

This further compromises peace and security in the Horn of Africa and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the AU chairperson of the Commission called it a “heinous attack” that “will not lessen the determination of ATMIS forces”.

Mahamat also called for increased support for the Somali security services. That fits into the PSC’s agenda for this month, which will be “joint political consultations with partners such as the European Union Peace and Security Committee and the United Nations Security Council”.

The Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council was adopted on 9 July 2002 in Durban and came into force in December 2003. The PSC became fully operational in early 2004.

Source:  News24