The African Union Commission’s Peace Support Operations Division (AUC PSOD) in partnership with ACCORD hosted the annual African Standby Capacity (ASC) Core Group Meeting. This meeting took place from 26 – 27 November 2025 at the ACCORD offices in Durban, South Africa. Attendees included representatives from AUC Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) and Human Resources Management Directorate (HRMD), the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) and ACCORD. The ASC annual Core Group Meeting serves as a platform to discuss the workplan for the current year, reflecting on the year’s achievements and challenges to shape a cohesive roadmap for the following years’ priorities.
This year stands as a landmark moment, commemorating ten years of the ASC’s journey, making this year’s meeting a fitting moment for reflection, reflecting on the past decade of the ASC. As part of this reflection, one of the key discussions in this meeting explored leveraging innovative cost-effective solutions to streamline rostering activities, including acquiring AI-curated resources, which would create easily accessible, on-demand knowledge, ensuring that rostering officers are equipped to perform their roles effectively and sustainably for years to come.
Building on the recommendations from last year’s ASC Core Group meeting, notable progress has been made in advancing efforts towards implementation. The activities and engagements for this year were discussed, with emphasis on the successful induction and training programmes conducted for both Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Standby Force (EASF) which strengthened institutional capacity. The induction and training sessions ensured that new roster focal points were seamlessly integrated into the ASC rostering system and equipped them with the skills and knowledge required to drive implementation with confidence. To further build on this momentum, key recommendations discussed in this meeting included strengthening engagement with leadership at the AUC and Regional Economic Communities / Regional Mechanisms and securing their active buy in ensuring that proposed actions are championed at the highest levels. By integrating those in leadership into these conversations progress may be accelerated.
The renovation and redesign of the ASC website was an exciting focus of review for this year. With the overview of the redesign, the ASC core group noted an ease of navigation as well as a more engaging, user-friendly experience. These improvements are designed to enhance public access to information about the ASC Roster and streamline functionality of the website. Equally significant was the discussion around spring-cleaning of the roster as part of routine roster management. This process is critical to maintaining the integrity and quality of the ASC’s operational capacity and guaranteeing that the roster serves as a reliable resource for deployment.
Through the Training for Peace (TfP) Programme, a flagship funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ACCORD continues to provide steadfast support to the ASC, reinforcing its mandate and strengthening its capacity to promote peace and security across the continent.
