European Union and African Union hold the second Strategic Dialogue on Preventive Diplomacy and Peace Mediation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Dialogue aims to identify joint actions in prioritised geographic contexts; explore avenues for closer cooperation on preventive diplomacy and peace mediation; and explore collaboration for increasing the meaningful participation of women and youth.
European and African security are interlinked. In a context of an increased number of conflicts, both Unions step up their cooperation through exchanges on early warning, coordination of mediation efforts for increased impact, and conflict resolution to foster economic growth and human development.
EU
The event is opened by Ambassador Dr. Akok Madut, Head at the AU Mediation and Dialogue Division, and by Mr. Guillem Riutord Sampol, Head of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Peace, Security and Defence Partnerships Division. At his opening remarks, Mr. Guillem Riutord Sampol underlined that "the EU stands with Africa in building sustainable peace, through youth and gender-inclusive mediation and data-driven prevention. Together, we turn dialogue into action: a stronger AU-EU cooperation for stable, resilient communities and shared security."
The Dialogue gathers officials from the AU Mediation & Dialogue Division, Conflict Management Directorate and Regional Desk Officers. From the EU side, officials come from the EEAS Conflict Prevention and Peace Mediation Sector, EU Special Representatives’ advisors, the European Commission’s International Partnerships Directorate General, and the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments.
The main points in the agenda are Horn of Africa, Great Lakes, data-based approaches to conflict prevention, prevention of electoral violence, and Women, Peace & Security.
EU
Background:
Stemming from the 2018 AU-EU MoU on Peace, Security & Governance, this Dialogue builds on the Nairobi mediation retreat in 2022. The 1st EU-AU Strategic Dialogue on Preventive Diplomacy and Peace Mediation was held on October 2–3 2023 in Brussels. Its main outcomes were agreements on staff exchanges, joint conflict analysis, mediation support with youth and women, election violence prevention, and to reinforce the trilateral AU-EU-UN cooperation.
The 16th EU PSC-AU PSC (joint communiqué) and the 7th AU-EU Summit (Joint Declaration) reaffirmed joint commitment to conflict prevention and mediation cooperation.
The EU-AU partnership for Governance, Peace and Security relies on the African Governance and Peace and Security Architectures (AGA -APSA) with key EU support focusing on capacity building and institutional cooperation. Over the years, the EU has been a main partner, providing continuous support programmes to both architectures, to the Early Response Mechanism and to the AU Compliance Framework. The upcoming African Governance, Peace and Security Architectures programme (GPS) will be the common roof for EU’s work with AUC and RECs bringing together former stand-alone projects to develop a more coherent, effective and efficient approach.
More information:
