COMMUNIQUÉ

Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 1355^th meeting held on Wednesday, 22 July 2026 on Consideration of the Report of the African Union Commission Chairperson on Elections in Africa for the period January to June 2026.

The Peace and Security Council,

Recalling the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG); the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections and the Guidelines for AU Electoral Observation and Monitoring Missions;

Referring to the AU Constitutive Act and Article 3 (f) of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the PSC; as well as all previous decisions and pronouncements on elections in Africa, in particular, Communiqué [PSC/PR/COMM.1327 (2026)] adopted at its 1327^th meeting held on 26 January 2026;

Emphasizing the importance of regular, transparent, inclusive, and credible democratic elections in the promotion and maintenance of peace, security and stability in Member States; 

Reiterating the AU Zero tolerance policy on unconstitutional changes of government;

Taking note of the opening remarks by H.E. Ambassador Rebecca Amuge Otengo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uganda to the AU and PSC Chairperson for July 2026 and the Presentation by H.E. Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, of the Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Elections in Africa for the period January to June 2026;

Also taking note of the statements delivered by the representatives of the Member States that organized elections or referenda during the reporting period, namely: the Republic of Benin, the Republic of Cape Verde, the Republic of Congo; the Republic of Djibouti, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Republic of Uganda; and

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

1. Adopts the Report of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Elections organized in Africa during the period January to June 2026;

2. Congratulates all AU Member States that organized elections during the reporting period, namely, the Republic of Benin, the Republic of Cape Verde, the Republic of Congo; the Republic of Djibouti, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Republic of Uganda and encourages them to implement the recommendations made by the AU Election Observation Missions in order to improve their future electoral processes;

3. Expresses deep appreciation to the African leadership and personalities who led the AU Election Observer Missions to Member States that organized elections during the reporting period for conducting themselves professionally and for upholding high levels of integrity;

4. Welcomes the progress registered by Member States in deepening and consolidating participatory democracy and in upholding constitutionalism, including through regular organization of credible and transparent electoral processes and encourages them to link democracy and socio-economic development with a view to further enhancing the livelihood of their people;

5. Commends Member States for the increased use of domestic financial resources for the organization of their electoral processes, which significantly contributes towards the enhancement of national ownership and reduces the vulnerabilities associated with dependence on external sources of funding for electoral processes;

6. Applauds the AU Commission for the continued provision of technical support to electoral processes in Member States and for the deployment of inclusive election observation missions in the Continent; in particular, the significant improvements in the participation of women and youth in AU Election Observer Missions;

7. Commends the Kingdom of Morocco in coordination with the AU Commission, for training more than 400 election observers since 2022, aiming at enhancing capacity-building to AUEOMs, including in particular, for the successful co-organization of the 5^th Specialized Training on AU Election Observation and the Elections and Democracy Dialogue Seminar, held in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, from 20 to 24 April 2026; and looks forward to the organization of its 6^th edition;

8. Also commends the African Union Commission and the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for organizing training in Algiers from 1 to 4 September 2025, for 37 core team experts of AU Election Observation Missions, held in collaboration with the Algerian Independent National Election Authority (ANIE) and EISA;

9. In this context, requests the AU Commission to undertake the following:

   i. submit to Council the reports of pre- and post-election assessment missions to enable the PSC to take appropriate decisions to facilitate the successful organization of credible elections in Member States; 

 ii. continue to provide election-related technical capacity building support to all Member States, paying particular attention to those that are currently in political transition;

 iii. scale up support to Member States, upon request, and in full respect of national sovereignty within available budget resources, to further strengthen institutional, operational, and technical capacities of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs), with a view to enhancing professional, independent, and resilient electoral management systems, particularly in view of  the growing threat being posed by unethical use of Artificial Intelligence, which is undermining the integrity and credibility of election processes; and in this regard;

 iv. take necessary measures to address the emerging challenges relating to Artificial Intelligence, the use of new technologies in electoral processes in the Continent, on the basis of a dedicated action plan, and to report to the PSC at its next meeting on this thematic subject; and

  v. develop Continental guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence in electoral processes, including on deep-fakes, digital political advertising and the protection of information integrity.

10. Commends all AU partners that continue to support the AU Commission on conducting elections, in particular, the European Union; and reiterates the appeal to the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) to allocate adequate financial resources to support election-related activities of the AU Commission Electoral Support Unit to enable it to more effectively and efficiently fulfil its mandate of supporting electoral processes in the Member States, including through the provision of technical assistance and the deployment of AU Election Observation Missions;

11. Encourages all States Parties to fully comply with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and calls upon Member States that have not yet done so to expedite the signature and ratification of the ACDEG, as well as to invite AU Election Observation Missions;

12. Urges Member States to continue inviting African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOMs) and to implement the recommendations arising from these AUEOMs, with a view to further strengthening the integrity and credibility of their electoral processes; as well as strengthen AU’s institutional credibility encourages Member States to support election follow up missions, technical assistance and preventive diplomacy;

13. Condemns all forms of election-related violence, hate speech and inflammatory statements, as well as the recourse to unconstitutional changes of government, regardless of the justification, and strongly urges all parties to electoral processes in the Continent to commit to accepting the results, and to refrain from violence, and to use national legal channels for addressing any election-related grievances or disputes that may arise;

14. Once again encourages Member States to take deliberate measures to address voter apathy and to improve popular participation in electoral processes, including by working closely with civil society organizations and the media in efforts aimed at promoting civic education;

15. Commends the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for its ongoing National Dialogue and further encourages Member States to institutionalize permanent national dialogue mechanisms that bring together governments, political parties, civil society, the media and other stakeholders to promote national reconciliation, peaceful coexistence, conflict prevention, and democratic governance;

16. Underscores the importance of anticipating and preventing election-related conflicts and in this context, encourages Member States to establish legal mechanisms for addressing any election-related disputes that may arise and to prioritize dialogue as the only path towards sustainable solutions;

17. Requests the AU Commission to further strengthen the continental early warning system and to continue timeous deployment of preventive diplomacy missions alongside the AU Election Observation Missions and to also continue enhancing closer synergies between Member States, RECs/RMs, and other AU Organs to ensure seamless deployment and conduct of AU Election Observation Missions;

18. Appeals to Member States that will be organizing elections in the second half of 2026 to do so in accordance with their national legal frameworks and the relevant regional, continental and international standards in pursuit of inclusive-participatory democracy and transparency, with a view to also preventing election-related violence;

19. Requests the AU Commission to continue providing technical, advisory, and operational support to Member States that will be organizing elections in the second half of the year 2026, with a view to enhancing their preparedness, resilience, and effective management of electoral processes;

20. Encourages Member States to continue fostering a culture of peace by ensuring that their electoral processes are conducted in a peaceful, inclusive, transparent, and credible manner, in accordance with national legal frameworks and relevant regional and continental principles and guidelines;

21. Urges the media and civil society organizations to continue playing a constructive role in ensuring credibility and integrity of elections in Member States and to refrain from inflaming election-related challenges and inciting public violence;

22. Encourages the AU Commission to continue deploying African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOMs) and to ensure the inclusion of more women; as well as to also continue deploying technical assistance missions, and electoral assessment missions, complemented by targeted needs assessments, peer-learning initiatives, and capacity-building programmes, to strengthen the credibility, transparency, inclusiveness, and integrity of electoral processes across the continent;

23. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

COMMENTS