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The Peace and Security Council,

Recalling decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.686 (XXX)] adopted by the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union held in January 2018, in Addis Ababa, in which the Assembly welcomed the steps taken to position the APRM as part of AU’s early warning tools for conflict prevention on the Continent. Also recalling its previous press statements, [PSC/PR/BR. (DCCCXIX)] adopted at its 819th meeting held on 19 December 2018, and [PSC/PR/BR. (DCCCXIX)] adopted at its 871st meeting held on 22 August 2019;

Noting the statements made by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to the African Union, H.E. Ambassador Crisantos Obama Ondo, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the PSC for the month of March 2020, and the briefing made by the member of the APRM Review Panel of Eminent Persons, H.E. Professor Ibrahim Gambari;

Inspired by the AU Theme of the year 2020 on Silencing the Guns – Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development and the Decisions of the 33rd African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 9-10 February 2020, in Addis Ababa, relating to the state of peace and security in Africa;

Mindful of aspiration 4 of the AU Agenda 2063, for a peaceful and secure Africa, anchored by functional mechanisms for peaceful prevention and resolution of conflicts, including promotion of dialogue, and a culture of peace and tolerance through peace education amongst others;

Reiterating its support towards the fulfilment of the APRM mandate to promote the Union’s ideals and shared values of democratic governance and inclusive development, in accordance with the standards contained in the African Union Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance, and in the context of harmony and synergy between the APRM, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA);

Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:

1. Acknowledges the importance of the APRM as a distinctive landmark instrument of the Union, and one of the most effective mechanisms for promoting conflict prevention; also acknowledges its contribution in addressing some of the structural root causes of conflicts in the Continent, particularly those relating to governance; and applauds the APR Panel of Eminent Persons for their tireless efforts in providing oversight and ensuring that the work of the APRM is carried out in an independent, professional and credible manner;

2. Commends the APRM on reaching a significant milestone demonstrable by having forty (40) participating Member States as of February 2020; also commends the latest Member States, Seychelles and Zimbabwe, which acceded and joined the APRM during the recently concluded 28th APR Forum of Heads of States and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and in this respect, encourages the APRM to take the requisite actions to reach universal accession by 2023 as envisaged by the Agenda 2063 Ten Year Implementation Plan and requested by the Assembly through numerous decisions;

3. Expresses satisfaction on the significant and encouraging progress made by the APRM to contribute to the prevention of impending national crises and conflicts on the Continent, in accordance with paragraph 14 of the APRM Base Document which stipulates that early signs of the impending political or economic crisis in a member country, necessitates instituting a review;

4. Underscores the significance of the pillars of the "APRM Framework on Early Warning and Conflict Prevention" which provides a roadmap of collaboration between the APRM and the various pillars of APSA, particularly, the Continental Early Warning System, the Panel of the Wise and the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs); and in this respect, also underscores the need for enhanced coordination and synergising of efforts of all the stakeholders within the context of conflict prevention, in pursuit of lasting peace, security and economic development;

5. Also expresses satisfaction on the growing confidence displayed by the Member States towards the peer review mechanism, which continues to increase both quantitatively and qualitatively; and in this regard, commends all the Member States which are already parties to the ARPM, particularly, the ones who have undergone the review processes as per the thematic areas; and encourages all the remaining Member States to collaborate and voluntarily participate in the homegrown, credible, rigorous, independent and self-driven peer review process as well as the implementation of its recommendations;

6. Emphasise the significance of institutionalising regular interactions with the APRM including scheduling two briefings per year, aimed at synergising efforts, sharing experiences emanating from the review processes in order to enhance efforts towards preventive diplomacy in Africa;

7. Takes note of the already concluded country review on Egypt and the targeted reviews on Djibouti and Namibia, focusing respectively on the themes “Fiscal Decentralisation” and “Youth Unemployment”;

8. Requests the Commission, working in close collaboration with the APRM Secretariat, to organise a Joint Retreat of the APRM before the extraordinary summit earmarked for May 2020, aimed at thoroughly engaging and interrogating the various review reports undertaken in the past two years, such as reports on Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt; and in this aspect, underlines the importance of inviting relevant stakeholders to partake in the retreat, including the Panel of the Wise, Pan-African Network of the Wise and FemWise; and agrees to dedicate a session to deliberate and adopt the outcomes of the planned Joint Retreat;

9. Decides to convene twice a year to receive briefings on the work of the APRM;

10. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.