Partnerships with Regional Organizations

Looking ahead, many participants underscored that Africa will play a central role in shaping the next generation of peace operations. The continent’s innovative drive, experience and determination are vital to renewing the global peace and security architecture. With its resources, dynamic human capital andgrowing institutional capacities, Africa is well positioned to advance “African solutions to African challenges.” Realising this potential will depend on deepening complementary and forward-looking partnerships with regional and subregional organizations. Significantly increased African political and financial ownership of peace operations is also essential. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) initiative to activate its Standby Force exemplifies this commitment. Moreover, the landmark UN Security Council resolution 2719 (2023) now needs to be operationalised, testedandrefined through practical implementation to ensure it delivers on its transformative promise.

1. Responding to Violent Extremism through Coherent Multilateralism: Violent extremism and terrorism have become existential threats for many countries in West Africa and remain a central concern of the African Peace and Security Architecture. The growing demand for counter-terrorism operations in West Africa and the Sahel calls for a careful recalibration of roles among international, regional andsubregional actors. Cooperation must be guided by shared principles and values, subsidiarity and complementarity, with each organization acting in line with its comparative advantage while avoiding further fragmentation of effort. A more institutionalised and comprehensive approach is required: one that balances long-term peace, governance and state resilience over short-term military solutions. Contemporary African security challenges cannot always be addressed through traditional UN peace operations alone: in some contexts, they demand political strategies, complemented by counter-terrorism responsesandmore robust enforcement options. It is urgent to clarify how and under what conditions UN tools can effectively support these complementary operations while remaining consistent with the UN’s principles and mandate.
2. Implementing Security Council Resolution 2719: UN Security Council resolution 2719 (2023) needs to be operationalised, tested and refined through practical implementation to ensure it delivers on its transformative promise. It offers a significant new framework for authorising and supporting African-led peace support operations. The resolution represents a tool for time-bound, high-intensity operations where there is “no peace to keep.” Its purpose is to create a flexible instrument for peace enforcement and stabilisation under UN–AU partnership. While the UN and AU are making progress in addressing the technical prerequisites for implementation, it may also be timely to explore complementary approaches, such as networked multidimensional operations.