African Union Peace Fund will face uphill battle
The organisation has launched an ambitious peace initiative
Source: Media reports, African Union
Outlook
The African Union (AU) on November 17-18 launched its Peace Fund. The Fund’s initial budget is 100 million dollars -- members have purportedly already contributed 60 million -- with a target of 400 million by 2021.
The Fund has three core aims: mediation and preventive diplomacy activities; capacity building; and peace support operations. The Fund will ostensibly allow the AU to meet a commitment to finance 25% of its peace operations budget, while also enabling it to finance mediation and preventive diplomacy activities.
The Fund’s launch comes amid UN debates over greater support and financing for AU-led peacekeeping. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, France and China back UN financial support mechanisms for AU peacekeeping, but they face opposition from the United States.
Impacts
- With wider AU reform efforts lagging, the Fund’s initial targets are likely to be missed.
- International actors will push for greater AU force discipline, given scandals in previous AU-led missions e.g. Central African Republic.
- AU members commitment to sovereign non-intervention will persist as an impediment to quick force deployment.