ABSTRACT
The African peace and security architecture (APSA) is the centerpiece of the African Union’s vision of promoting peace, security, and stability on the continent. APSA’s institutional bedrock is formed by the AU Commission, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (RMs), which together constitute what we will term, for the purposes of this chapter, APSA institutions. At their level, a wide gap between the capacity required and the capacity available can be observed. Building institutional capacity does not only entail recruiting more staff and providing more funding. It also requires increasing the efficiency and impact of extant organizational arrangements through organizational improvement. While institutional transformation plays a role at the Commission and in many RECs, there is still a dearth of such initiatives within the peace and security functions. This is not too surprising, given the challenges that come with such projects.
