South Sudan: AU, EU commemorate 25-year partnership with renewed hope for the future

On Monday 8 December, the European Union Delegation and the African Union Mission in South Sudan held a joint commemorative event at the University of Juba's Unipod Hall to celebrate their 25 years of partnership.

The commemoration included welcoming remarks from the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Robert Mayom Deng, and the EU Ambassador-Designate, Pelle Enarsson. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Ambassador Enarsson; the Deputy Head of the AU Mission in South Sudan, Ambassador Prosper Addo; the Foreign Affairs Ministry Representative, Ambassador Nonoya Aguil; and the youth activist Anna Maneno, who recently represented South Sudan at the Youth, Peace and Security Conference in Brussels ahead of the EU-AU Summit. 

During the panel discussion on effective multilateralism, panellist Ambassador Addo cited progress in health (e.g. vaccine access and the establishment of regulatory bodies such as the African Medicines Agency); peace and security (e.g. training African police and military forces, and funding peace support missions in Africa through the European Development Fund (EDF), which supported the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) with 2.7 billion euros, as some key achievements of their partnership. 

“The European Peace Facility now supports rule of law programmes in conflict zones in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, as well as educational opportunities such as student exchanges via Erasmus+ as well as joint research,” he said. 

According to Amb. Enarsson, the African Union and the European Union are working together to achieve a peaceful and prosperous future through rules-based multilateralism in a time of geopolitical and multilateral uncertainty. 

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“The recent Summit in Angola in November 2025 reaffirmed that our common future lies in closer cooperation and collective action for the mutual benefit of the peoples of Africa and Europe,” he said. “On the 25th anniversary of the AU-EU partnership, we look back with pride on our achievements, and we look forward to future cooperation based on mutual ambition for integrated, prosperous and peaceful continents for the wellbeing of our people. Looking ahead, we are determined to further advance our partnership and to unlock new opportunities.”

Regarding the future of the AU-EU Partnership, both youth activist Maneno and Amb. Nonoya believed that, within 10 to 20 years, Africa would be more stable, with more young people in leadership positions and more Africans in top global roles. They also predicted that Africa would progress in technological advancement and innovations in medicine and manufacturing. 

Meanwhile, Ambassador Designate Enarsson hoped to see a stable continent, particularly South Sudan, where jobs are created, elections are held, and the permanent constitution is established. 

One of the 49 points in the joint declaration of the 7th AU-EU Summit expresses 'unwavering support for just, comprehensive and lasting peace in South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Sahel region'. 

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