AU Striving to Silencing Guns in Africa

By Xinhua 

April 5, 2024

The African Union (AU) is proud of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union Commission (AUC) for its work in peace and security over the past two decades, a senior official of the AUC has said.

AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoyeas made the remark during the 20th anniversary of the official establishment of the PSC at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Wednesday.

The PSC is striving to silence the guns in Africa and achieve the goals of Agenda 2063, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency quoted him as saying.

Calling for collective effort to further silence the guns across the continent, Adeoye commended the PSC’s role in security governance, conflict prevention, management and resolution through adopting many front-line documents, frameworks and guiding operations,

“The PSC has been the key promoter of constitutionalism, rule of law, and respect of human rights,” he pointed out.

The council has been active in addressing conflict situations across the continent and has played a role in reducing violence, Adeoye stated, recalling the success stories, including in Ethiopia, which mediated the Pretoria peace agreement in November 2022 that ended a two-year civil war in northern Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

The PSC comprises 15 members. The 10 newly-elected countries are Angola, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda. Algeria, Chad, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa are re-elected PSC members.