COMMUNIQUÉ

Adopted by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) at its 1360^th meeting held on 12 August 2026 on "progress made in the Silencing the Guns in Africa Roadmap: Revitalization";

The Peace and Security Council,

Recalling Assembly Decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.630(XXVIII)] through which the 28th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa, from 30 to 31 January 2017 endorsed the AU Master Roadmap (AUMR) of Practical Steps for Silencing the Guns in Africa by the Year 2020; and Decision [Assembly/AU/Dec.843(XXXVI)] adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its 36^th Ordinary Session, held in Addis Ababa, from 18 to 19 February 2023, through which the Assembly extended the duration of the AUMR implementation to 2030 and underlined the responsibility of Member States to fully implement the relevant AU normative frameworks and instruments;

Also recalling the AU Declaration on Silencing the Guns in Africa adopted in Johannesburg in 2020, as well as all previous decisions and pronouncements of Council towards Silencing the Guns in Africa, in particular Communiqué [PSC/PR/COMM.1252 (2024)], adopted at its 1252^nd meeting held on 18 December 2024;

Faithful to the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the PSC of the AU; and the commitment to the implementation of Agenda 2063, the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), the African Governance Architecture (AGA), the AUMR, the AU Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) Policy, the Common African Defence and Security Policy (CADSP), the Tunis Declaration on a Code of Conduct for Inter-African Relations, the direct connection between peace, security, governance, humanitarian support and development;

Take note of the opening remarks by H.E. Dr. Ambassador Mohamed Khaled, Permanent Representative of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for the month of August 2026; the briefing by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns in Africa; the statement by H.E. Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security (WPS); Representatives of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) and Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs); and

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

1. On African Union Undertaken actions

1. Acknowledges the continued efforts of Member States, RECs/RMs, AU Organs, civil society organizations, women and youth groups, traditional and religious leaders, development partners and all stakeholders in advancing the implementation of the Silencing the Guns agenda;

2. Commends the relentless efforts of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns in Africa, in driving the continental agenda toward silencing the guns in Africa and reaffirms full support of his mandate; in this regard, calls upon on all relevant stakeholders to further enhance cooperation with the High Representative in mobilizing the political will and resources necessary to effectively implement the AUMR of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa;

3. Emphasizes the urgency and importance of ensuring effective implementation of the decisions related to the silencing the guns in Africa, in particular the Decision of the 14^th Extraordinary Session of the AU Conference held in December 2020, dedicated to the theme “Silencing the Guns,” as well as the Decision and Declaration on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa, adopted by the 16^th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly held in May 2022, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea;

4. Expresses support to all African led peace initiatives, including the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, as concrete demonstrations of the capacity of African led solutions; and commends the Government of the Federal democratic Republic Ethiopia for the concrete steps taken towards its full implementation and for its continued restraint in the interest of preserving peace. and calls upon the other party to respect the Agreement and AU Member States to support Ethiopia’s peace process;

5. Called for strengthening the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) to bridge the gap between early warning and early action, in order to more effectively prevent and defuse various violent conflicts, by establishing an African architecture of existing conflict prevention mechanisms; and welcomes the initiative taken to develop a Trigger Model and its technical Threats Assessment and Risk Mapping Tool as practical mechanisms for enhancing early action which should be implemented in line the principle of national ownership and sovereignty;

6. Encourages Member States to accelerate the full implementation of the domestication of the AUMR through the development and implementation of national action plans aligned with national peace and security priorities and the appointment of national focal points;

7. Encourages Member States to report regularly on the implementation of the AUMR using the standardized Monitoring and Evaluation Framework developed by the Commission;

8. Encourages Member States to continue strengthening cooperation in combating illicit manufacture, trafficking and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, including through enhanced border management, intelligence-sharing, and coordinated law enforcement operations, while simultaneously tackling illicit financial flows to deprive armed and terrorist groups of financial support;

9. Stresses the importance of strengthening accountability mechanisms and promote justice, inter alia, through judicial cooperation, including the signing of extradition agreements between Member States;

10. Encourages the Commission to continue strengthening partnerships with continental financial institutions, the African private sector and international partners to mobilize predictable and sustainable resources for the implementation of the AUMR, consistent with the Council’s call for enhanced financing of African peace initiatives;

2. On the actions to be undertaken

11. Encourages Member States to strengthen inclusive governance, uphold constitutionalism, promote the rule of law and also strengthen democratic institutions as indispensable foundations for sustainable peace and conflict prevention;

12. Underscores that Member States bear the primary responsibility for translating the commitments under the AU Master Roadmap for Silencing the Guns into concrete action, and in this regard, requests the establishment of National Focal Points responsible for coordinating the implementation and ensuring regular reporting on the political, social, economic, legal and environmental dimensions of the Silencing the Guns initiative;

13. Emphasizes that the National Focal Points shall play a pivotal role in coordinating the national implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the AUMR, mobilizing inter-agency collaboration to combat the proliferation of illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), facilitating national activities during the Africa Amnesty Month (AAM), national dialogues and conflict-prevention strategies with civil society, women, and youth to address both the root causes and manifestations of armed conflict across the continent;

14. Requests Member States to continue popularizing and observing the Africa Amnesty Month (AAM) and to encourage voluntary disarmament, scale up public awareness campaigns and community confidence-building initiatives aimed at eliminating the illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons and demining;

15. Recommends the Policy organs, to establish standing agenda items, specifically highlighting major conflict situations during Ordinary Assembly Sessions, starting from 40^th AU Assembly Session (January 2027);

16. Requests the Chairperson of the AU Commission to strengthen the deployment on the ground of its Special Representatives and to conduct shuttle diplomacy and mediation, field missions, on a quarterly basis, including through the use of Good Offices, in Member States facing looming political/security crisis situations;

17. Further requests the Commission to continue convening regular high-level political dialogue, interdepartmental consultations and regional coordination mechanisms to sustain momentum in implementing the AUMR and to also promote greater coherence across the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA);

18. Requests the AU Commission to finalize the assessment matrix for the implementation, by Member States, of the Silencing the Guns Roadmap on political, social, economic, environmental, and legal dimensions; and emphasizes the need to prioritize building resilience, adaptation capability and sustainable livelihoods;

19. Directs the AU Commission to continue to support Member States’ efforts in tracking, border control, and regional stockpile management to choke off the supply of illicit weapons reaching non-state actors and criminal networks;

20. Encourages RECs/RMs to develop and operationalize regional implementation frameworks for the AUMR, drawing on the example of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Silencing the Guns Chapter; and requests them to regularly report to the PSC Dashboard on their activities towards the implementation of the AUMR of Practical Steps for Silencing the Guns in Africa;

21. Calls upon the women and youth organizations and requests AU networks for women and Youth to submit recommendations on the best practical means and ways of further enhancing their role in the implementation of the Master Roadmap;

22. Requests AUDA-NEPAD, as the Continent’s development agency, to support small-scale development projects and basic infrastructure projects in remote areas of Africa with modest implementation costs;

23. Requests the Commission to urgently undertake an evaluation/assessment exercise, working in collaboration with Member States, think tanks and centres of Excellence on the impact of the actions being undertaken by Member States, High representatives, AUC, RECs and RMs and all other strategic actors towards Silencing the Guns in Africa and to report to Council as soon as possible before the next Summit of AU Heads of State and Government;

24. Looks forward to the successful launch of the 2026 AAM commemorative event in Algiers, scheduled for 14-15 September 2026; and

25. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

COMMENTS