Addis Ababa, October 2, 2023 (FBC) – The 6th African Union Commission Department of Political Affairs Peace and Security (AUC PAPS) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation to the African Union (AU-ICRC) annual roundtable themed “Operationalization of AU Strategic Framework for Compliance and Accountability in Peace Support Operations (PSO): An assessment of the prevention, response and remedial approaches in AU Peace Support Operations (PSOs)” has kicked off today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The two-day roundtable brings together representatives from various Peace Support Operations, UN offices stationed in Addis Ababa, Regional Economic Communities & Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) and Troop & Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs) on the continent.
The event offers missions the opportunity to discuss real-life challenges and best practices experienced by personnel of multinational operations in Africa in operationalizing the obligation to respect and ensure respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in context of multinational operations.
It is annually co-organized since 2016 to strengthen compliance with IHL, International Human Rights Law and standards of conduct and discipline of its PSOs within Africa, according to AU PAPS.
In his opening remark, Mame Ibrahima Tounkara, ICRC Deputy Head of Delegation to African Union, stated the immense privilege for ICRC to partner with the AU in organizing these joint roundtables to take stock on critical issues intended to strengthen the respect and implementation of IHL in peace support operations on the continent.
For her part, Katherine Weir, Legal adviser of ICRC Somalia Delegation, highlighted the obligation of States and International Organizations to respect and ensure respect for IHL through measures including training, conditioning joint operations on compliance, investigations and prosecution.