Strengthening the Africa-EU Partnership on Peace and Security: How to Engage African Regional Organizations and Civil Society

Book

The Joint Africa-European Union Strategy (JAES), adopted at the Lisbon Summit in December 2007, was conceived to overcome the unequal partnership between the African and European continents by establishing a framework of cooperation based on shared values and common objectives.

In particular, it was designed as an inclusive and people-centred partnership, aimed at involving both institutional and non-institutional actors beyond the Brussels-Addis Ababa axis.

However, already during the first implementation phase (2008-2010), it became clear that these conditions were far from being fully realized and needed a longer timeframe to display their potential. The Tripoli Summit in November 2010 and the second Action Plan (2011-2013) have tried to address some of these problems, but full implementation of the Joint Strategy is still a work in progress.

This study analyses the sub-optimal involvement of two main stakeholders, namely African regional organizations – Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) – and civil society actors, especially non-governmental organizations. It addresses current engagement in and the potential of civil society’s contribution to Africa-EU relations in the field of peace and security, by looking at their interaction with institutions on the continent and their added value in sectors such as early warning, crisis management, mediation and training. Finally, it offers some policy recommendations for the future implementation of the Joint Strategy, in particular on the issues of dialogue, capacity-building and funding.

Table of Contents

1. The Africa-EU Peace and Security Partnership and African Regional Organizations, Kai Schäfer
1. Relations between the African Union and regional organizations in the field of
peace and security
2. African regional organizations in the framework of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy
2.1. Political dialogue
2.2. Operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA)
3. The European Union’s financial support to African regional organizations
4. The cases of COMESA and SADC
4.1. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
4.2. The Southern African Development Community (SADC)

2. The Africa-EU Peace and Security Partnership and the Role of Civil Society, Valérie Vicky Miranda
1. What is civil society?
2. The European Union and civil society
3. The Joint Africa-EU Strategy and civil society
3.1. Civil society’s participation in the Joint Africa-EU Strategy
3.2. Civil society and the Peace and Security Partnership
4. Challenges to civil society’s participation in the Joint Strategy and the Peace
and Security Partnership
4.1. CSOs’ capacity
4.2. Mechanisms of participation
4.3. Funding

Policy Recommendations, Valérie Vicky Miranda, Nicoletta Pirozzi and Kai Schäfer
1. Dialogue, coordination and outreach
2. Capacity building
3. Sustainable funding