ACCORD attended the third in-person Strategy Group meeting of the African Union Network of Think Tanks for Peace (Nett4Peace) in Rabat, Morocco from 11-13 November 2025. The meeting was hosted by strategy group member, the Policy Centre for the New South (PCNS) and brought together 18 member think tanks from across the continent, the AU Commission Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (DPADS), the African-Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), and the GiZ-African Union Office.
Over the course of three days, the strategy group reflected on progress, completed tasks and challenges. Notable achievements included the hosting of a workshop on the African perspectives on the future of peace operations was held in Cairo, a policy dialogue themed ‘Charting the Future of Peace Operations post Berlin Ministerial through an African Lens’ in Addis Ababa and the selection and training of the FemWise 2nd Cohort: Orientation and Comprehensive Mediation and Preventive Diplomacy as well as the WiseYouth training on Transitional Justice – all organised by different think tanks under the Nett4Peace umbrella.
The meeting also included a session on assessing the AU’s response to insecurity hotspots. In this session, members reflected on key security priorities for the AU, evaluated the AU progress, persistent challenges and the evolving conflict landscape across the continent. The exchange and debate focused on the responses to the crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. In particular, this session noted that AU mechanisms remain relevant but struggle with slow response, limited resources, and weak enforcement. This is compounded by uneven political will and commitment from Member States. Furthermore, AU peace operations still rely heavily on external funding which limits its autonomy and leaves it vulnerable to global power rivalries.
The meeting ended with a conversation on the future of the working modalities of the strategy group and outlined opportunities for Nett4Peace to better support AU responses to conflict.
ACCORD remains committed to promoting the uptake of data and analysis for more informed and contextually relevant decision making and policy making.
