Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 30 September 2025

From 29th August to 5th September 2025, the Africa Union (AU) Commission for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (CPAPS) convened a series of activities to formally initiate the High-Level Review of the African Union’s Governance, Peace and Security Policy Frameworks, in Nairobi, Kenya.

The path to peace for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region is a path of bold moves and collective accountability. The current political and security situations in the region, and more specifically in the DRC, call for an unorthodox analysis at the four most dominant levels of international politics: international systems, the regional, state, and individual levels. The past failed attempts by the international community and Congolese actors to restore peace in the DRC show that best wishes and superficial resolutions alone are not enough. Agreements must include reinforcement mechanisms, measurable outcomes, and clear accountability measures. Whether supported by the United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC), as in the case of UNSC Resolution 2773, or through regional arrangements, such as the recent merger of the Congo peace processes between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC); peace and security in the DRC and the broader region of the Great Lakes depend on holding political actors accountable to the region, rule of law, state institutions, and the citizens for their actions and decisions. These accountability mechanisms should be made possible by the willingness of citizens and authorities to settle their differences and work for peace.

As debates around the African Union (AU)-United Nations (UN) partnership intensify ahead of the upcoming session of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and UN Security Council (UNSC) annual consultation, much of the focus of this partnership has become narrowly technical, centring largely on the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2719 on financing AU-led peace support operations. Financing modalities, accountability frameworks, and case-specific missions such as the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) or mediation efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan dominate much of the agenda. While these issues are important, this perspective risks obscuring the deeper rationale for the partnership: to deliver stronger peace and security responses, especially for the civilians most affected by conflict.  

First convened in 2023, the annual International Relations Society of Kenya (IRSK) Conference has established itself as a platform for home-grown discussions on matters of international relations and diplomacy in Kenya and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region. In just three years, the conference has evolved into a leading regional diplomatic gathering, bringing together policy makers, diplomats, scholars and youth to debate and discuss Africa’s role in the evolving global order.