Addis-Ababa, 2 May 2022: The Republic of Cameroon assumes the Chairship of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) for the month of May 2022. The seventh since the creation of the Council in 2004, the Cameroon Chairship comes within the frame of the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union to be held on 28 May 2022, devoted to Governance and Security challenges in the Continent namely, Unconstitutional Change of Government, Humanitarian crises and terrorism.

The Chairship will cover ten substantives meetings, most of which will be closed and virtual except for the two open sessions: that on Food Security, linked to the AU’s theme of the year and the other on Living Together in Peace. Commenting on the significance of this theme, H.E. Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the AU and  Chairperson of the PSC at the Ambassadorial level, highlighted that Cameroon’s Chairship “provides an opportunity to examine and compare the various efforts and challenges by African countries and peoples in living together in peace  in their quest for nation-building at a time when Cameroon will be commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of its National Unity Day on 20 May 2022”.

The May 2022 meetings will also focus on some thematic issues in the PSC Annual Indicative Programme, such as security challenges in the Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa, as well as joint political consultations with partners such as the EU Peace and Security Committee and the UN Security Council. It will equally address the challenges of humanitarian actions in the Continent on the very day commemorating the 30^th Anniversary of the AU-ICRC Cooperation signed on 4 May 1992.

 More importantly, some meetings will address emerging security concerns, including civil-military relations, the control of small arms and light weapons, as well as transnational organized crimes, as drivers of terrorism and unconstitutional changes of government. The outcomes of such meetings, which will highlight practical steps in silencing the guns in Africa are expected to be factored into the Malabo Extraordinary Summit.

While all the meetings will be at the ambassadorial level, the Cameroon Chairship is however, expected to touch on all the levels of the PSC. For instance, the outcome of the Yaoundé ECCAS Ministerial Conference on the Humanitarian Situation in the Central African Republic of April 2022, will be highlighted in the session on Humanitarian actions in Africa. Moreover, at the level of the PSC Subsidiary Organs, there will be a three-day training workshop for the Members of the PSC Committee of Experts, while the Military Staff Committee will hold a session on the proposed structure and functioning of the AU Continental Logistic Base in Douala. More importantly, it is expected that the President of the Republic of Cameroon, H.E. Paul BIYA will address the Malabo Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government, in his capacity as Chairperson of the PSC at the level of Heads of State and Government.

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