Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 1224th meeting held on 25 July 2024, on Consideration of the Half-Year Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Elections in Africa, January to June 2024.

The Peace and Security Council,

Recalling the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections [AHG/Decl.1(XXXVIII)]; the AU Constitutive Act; the Guidelines for African Union Electoral Observation and Monitoring Missions; Article 3 (f) of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, and all previous decisions of Council on elections in Africa, particularly Communiqué [PSC/PR/COMM.1194(2024)] adopted at its 1194th meeting held on 24 January 2024;

Acknowledging the critical importance of inclusive, peaceful, democratic, transparent and credible elections, as well as peaceful transfer of power as key factors for deepening and consolidating democracy, peace, security, stability and sustainable development in Member States, in order to facilitate the realization of the AU noble goal of Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2030, the AU Agenda 2063 and its Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan, as well as the United Nations Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals;

Taking note of the opening statement by H.E. Ambassador Professor Miguel Cesar Domingos Bembe, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Angola to the AU and PSC Chairperson for July 2024, and the presentation of the Half-Year Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission by H.E. Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; as well as the statements made by Member States that held elections during the period from January to June 2024; and the statements by the representatives of the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs); and

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

1. Adopts the Half-Year Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Elections in Africa for the Period January to June 2024 and commends the Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, for the continued AU Commission support for elections in Africa;

2. Congratulates all Member States that successfully organized elections during the first half of 2024 in a peaceful, transparent and credible manner, namely, the Republic of Chad, the Union of Comoros, the Republic of Madagascar, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania the Republic of Senegal, the Republic of South Africa, and the Togolese Republic, and encourages them to implement the recommendations of the various AU Election Observation Missions (AUEOMs), with a view to further enhancing the credibility of their future elections;

3. In particular, commends the people of the Republic of Senegal, especially the political actors, for the peaceful transfer of power to H.E. Bassirou Diomaye D. Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, as well as the people of the Republic of South Africa for forming a Government of National Unity, in full compliance with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG);

4. Applauds the RECs/RMs for their continued support for election processes in their Member States, with a view to preserving regional peace and stability, which are necessary conditions for promoting regional development;

5. Expresses deep appreciation to the Kingdom of Morocco for co-organizing with the AU Commission, the 3rd Edition of the Specialized Training of AU Election Observers, in Rabat, from 29 April to 3 May 2024; underlines the importance of continued contribution of Member States to towards further improving the professional conduct of AUEOMs, and looks forward to the coorganization of the 4th Edition of the Specialized Training;

6. Encourages Member States to continue deepening and consolidating democracy, including through the regular organization of inclusive, transparent, free, fair, and credible elections; as well as to create conditions conducive for predictable, peaceful and orderly transfers of power;
7. Calls upon Member States that have not yet done so to expedite the signature and ratification of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;

8. Reiterates the need for Member States to ensure that their national Election Management Bodies are adequately capacitated, ideally, using local resources, in order to enable them to more independently, professionally, effectively and efficiently discharge their mandates in accordance with the national legal frameworks, as well as regional and Continental principles and guidelines, with a view to preventing disputed election outcomes that can potentially trigger election-related violent conflicts and crisis situations;

9. Encourages Member States to continue to promote and strengthen consensual democracy, prioritize dialogue between and among political actors; adopt election code of conduct and to utilize existing legal channels for addressing any elections-related disputes; and requests Member States to create conducive conditions that encourage and promote the effective participation of their diaspora, women, the youth, minority groups, and people living with disabilities, as a commitment to facilitate their inclusion in national decision making and in recognition of their contributions to the national development;

10. Encourages Member States to continue to promote gender-responsive electoral laws, policies and strategies and to ensure equal access to political participation for women, by eliminating discriminatory practices, and continue to provide targeted support for women election candidates;

11. Appeals to all Member States that will be organizing elections in the second half of 2024 to take necessary measures, with the support of the AU Commission and the RECs/RMs, to ensure inclusive, peaceful, credible and transparent democratic elections; and encourages them to redouble efforts in mobilizing local resources for elections organization in order to ensure full ownership of the election processes and to insulate them from external interference;

12. Commends the AU Commission for the key milestones achieved, particularly, the specialized capacity building training programmes to promote meaningful participation of youth and women in national elections, in AU election observer missions, in knowledge for peace products including in the form of the 2022 Annual Report on Elections in Africa – “Democracy@work” and the documentary film on strengthening the culture of peace and democracy in Africa;

13. Reiterates the AU’s total rejection of unconstitutional changes of government, violence and hate speech in all circumstances, particularly during electoral processes; strongly urges all Member States in political transition to expedite the return to constitutional order through the organization of inclusive, transparent and credible elections, and, to this end, requests the Chairperson of the Commission to mobilize all necessary support for these Member States;

14. Commends the AU Commission for continuing to provide technical assistance to Member States, including through the deployment of pre-election technical needs assessment missions and AU Election Observation Missions (AUEOMs), as well as for deploying preventive diplomacy efforts towards addressing potential election-related conflicts;

15. Urges the AU Commission to consider the level of support it can provide to Member States to organize elections cost-effectively with a view to pooling technical efforts;

16. Encourages the AU Commission to organize seminars and symposia for the national bodies responsible for conducting elections to enable them to interact and share information and experiences in order to improve the quality of election-related work and to learn from the lessons and best practices from the experiences of other Member States;

17. Appeals to the Permanent Representatives Committee to allocate adequate financial resources to the PAPS Department to enable it to more effectively and efficiently fulfil its mandate of supporting electoral processes in Member States, including through the provision of technical assistance and the deployment of AU Election Observer Missions, and, in this regard, requests the AU Commission to submit the supplementary budget to cover the elections to be organised during the second half of 2024; and

18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

COMMENTS