Comparative Advantage, Coordination and Convergence in African Peace Operations
Academic Program
January 9–11, 2024
English | Français
Keynote Session
Advancing Peace Operations in Africa
Presented by:
General Birame Diop
Objectives:
- Discuss the contributions of peace operations to African security.
- Discuss successes, challenges, and lessons learned in African peace operations.
- Provide an overview of key ongoing initiatives and debates on how to improve Africa’s regional security architecture.
Session 1
Africa’s Peace Operations in Africa: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead
Presented by:
Dr. Paul Williams
Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga
Objectives:
- Provide an overview of key trends in peace operations in Africa.
- Discuss successes, challenges, and lessons learned in peace operations in Africa.
- Provide an overview of key ongoing initiatives and debates on how to improve Africa’s regional security architecture.
Session 2
Lessons Learned: Multidimensional Peace Operations
Presented by:
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Dr. Dennis Gyllensporre
Major General Diomède Ndegeya
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic and operational successes, challenges, and lessons learned from multidimensional operations in Africa.
- Analyze the challenges faced by both MINUSMA and AMISOM/ATMIS in aligning mandates with capabilities, and the drawdown and exit of each mission.
- Consider how these challenges can be overcome in future peace operations, and what a future, more regionalized framework for partnered multidimensional peace operations might look like.
Session 3
AU-UN Partnered Operations and the Future of the AU-UN Relationship
Presented by:
Ms. Karin Landgren
Assistant Secretary Michele J. Sison
General (Ret.) Martin Luther Agwai
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic and operational successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the AU-UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
- Analyze areas of comparative advantage and convergence between the AU and UN as sponsors of peace operations with the aim of generating insights to inform future AU-UN partnered operations.
- Brief participants on the current status of negotiations between the AU and UN on the topic of providing UN-assessed contributions to AU-led peace operations.
Session 4
The Challenges and Opportunities of Regional Economic Communities (REC)-Led Peace Operations
Presented by:
Brigadier General Magatte Ndiaye
Ambassador Professor Mpho Molomo
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic-level successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the ECOWAS Mission in the Gambia (ECOMIG) and the SADC Mission in Mozambique.
- Brainstorm insights and recommendations based on the lessons learned from these operations to inform efforts by the AU and RECs to deploy peace operations to prevent or respond to political unrest and unconstitutional changes in government.
- Analyze the broader comparative advantages and disadvantages of REC-led peace operations in comparison to UN or AU-led missions.
Session 5
Ad-Hoc Security Initiatives and Coordination to Counter Cross-Border Insurgency
Presented by:
Major General AK Ibrahim
Major General Oumar Bikimo
Major General Kenneth Ekman
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic-level successes, challenges, and lessons learned from Africa’s Ad-Hoc Security Initiatives (ASIs), specifically the Lake Chad Basin’s Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the G-5 Sahel Joint Force.
- Analyze the roles played by the UN, the AU, the US, and other external actors in supporting the ASIs to counter cross-border insurgencies.
- Analyze challenges and opportunities in incorporating the ASIs into the continent’s formal peace operations architecture.
- Brainstorm insights and recommendations to inform the future of peace operations in Africa based on the experience of the ASIs.
Session 6
Roundtable on U.S. Support for Peace Operations in Africa
Presented by:
The Honorable Josh Black
Deputy Assistant Secretary Melanie Higgins
Deputy Assistant Secretary Rachel Shiller
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense James Saenz
Objectives:
- Take stock of current U.S. priorities, policies, strategies, and programs supporting peace operations in Africa.
- Provide opportunities for Force Commanders to exchange views with senior USG officials on how the United States can further empower African-led conflict management and mitigation efforts.
- Brainstorm recommendations and solutions to further enable the United States to support African-led peace operations in alignment with U.S. interests.
- Specific areas to tackle include: adequacy of pre-deployment training; resource accountability; civilian harm mitigation and related accountability mechanisms; political-military coordination within PSOs and with the host nation.
Session 7
Coordination of Peace Operations Components and Capabilities
Presented by:
General (Ret.) Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi
General (Ret.) Osman Nour Soubagle
Ms. Jennifer Pulliam
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic-level successes, challenges, and lessons learned in coordinating the components and capabilities of peace operations in Africa.
- Analyze the challenges and lessons learned in coordinating the roles of police, military, and special forces such as the FIB within the context of efforts by peacekeepers to address threats from armed non-state actors.
- Brainstorm how police, military (including special forces), or other capabilities may be integrated into and sustained in future peace operations in Africa.
Session 8
Integrating African Peace Operations with Civilian-Led Conflict Management
Presented by:
Brigadier General Joyce Sitienei
General (Ret.) Balla Keita
Dr. Jide Martyns Okeke
Objectives:
- Take stock of strategic-level successes, challenges, and lessons learned from coordinating with civilian actors to manage and mitigate conflict during peace operations in Africa.
- Brainstorm how good practices in interfacing with local communities adopted by the UN can be more broadly integrated into the operations led by the AU and RECs.