The African Union Commission held a Member States experts meeting on the review and validation of African Union (AU)’s Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs) drafts on "Oversight and Accountability in Security Sector Reform (SSR)" and "SSR and Mediation" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 30 September – 01 October 2024, in partnership with African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), and with support of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU).

The purpose of the meeting was to review and validate the draft OGNs on "Oversight and Accountability in Security Sector Reform" and "SSR and Mediation." After compiling inputs from the Experts, the OGNs will be finalized and ready to be used to build relevant actors' capacity on a continental level.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Patience Zanelie Chiradza, Director of the Governance and Conflict Prevention Department of the AU, recalled that, based on recommendations from the AU SSR Steering Committee and the 10^th African Union High-Level Retreat on the Promotion of Peace, Security, and Stability, the Commission initiated a process to develop tools on Oversight and Accountability of the Security Sector and on SSR and Mediation in 2023. These thematic areas were also highlighted during events and activities last year as part of the "Decade of Implementation of the AU SSR Policy Framework: Successes, Challenges, and Perspectives for the Future." 

The meeting included remarks by Mr. Sean Tait, Director of APCOF, noting that integrating human rights into Security Sector Reform activities necessarily includes strengthening accountability frameworks. He emphasized that Operational Guidance on SSR is essential across all stages of conflict mediation, including the initial crisis intervention, the consolidation of peace, and from the transitional arrangements to the first election and beyond. Everyone involved in these complex processes, particularly AU appointed Mediators, High-Level Committees, the Panel of the Wise, needs to build SSR literacy to help identify and sequence SSR needs in a way sensitive to negotiating and consolidating the peace process. While identifying and acknowledging the likely conflict drivers in the security sector in the peace process, mediators will be better equipped to plan their appropriate resolution within an SSR process.

The two-day meeting mainly focused on providing background on the AU SSR Policy Framework and the OGNs, illustrating the key elements of the thematic areas discussed, clarifying the relevance of the OGNs, evaluating the contents, assessing the usability for specific target groups, analyzing the possible gaps in methodology, and proposing suggestions to enhance the OGNs. As a way forward, discussions focused on perspectives on how to use the OGNs, how to create awareness about the existing OGNs, what future OGNs are needed, and how the AU and partners support the process.

Participants from the African Union Commission (AUC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), and Members States actively engaged in SSR, including CAR, Ethiopia, DRC, Gambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali and South Sudan. International Partners, including APCOF, UNOAU, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) as well as experts on mediation, SSR, and Oversight of SSR were all in attendance.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Jocelyne Nahimana, Head of DDR/SSR Division | Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security | African Union Commission | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Email: nahimanaj@africa-union.org

Mr. Abraham Kebede Gizaw, PAPS Digital Support Officer and Database Administrator | Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security | African Union Commission | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Email: abrahamk@africa-union.org

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