East African Community-African Union - The African Union (AU) and the East African Community (EAC) have signed an agreement worth 3,415,489 euros for the implementation of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) in the East African region, the EAC secretariat said Tuesday.

The first phase of the APSA support covers a period of one year.

In a statement Tuesday, the EAC said the European Union (EU) was supporting the APSA programme for regional economic communities and regional mechanisms through the AU with a financial package of 40 million euros over a period of 44 months beginning 1 May, 2011.

The objective of the programme is to increase the capacity of the regional blocs to prevent and resolve conflicts, according to Abdul Janha, AU’s coordinator of the project monitoring unit, who witnessed the signing at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha, Tanzania.

'APSA aims to give the AU, the RECs and regional mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution (CPMR) necessary instruments to fulfill the tasks of conflict prevention in Africa as set out in the AU Constitutive Act and the Protocol establishing the Peace and Security Council (PSC),' said Janha.

EAC Deputy Secretary General (in charge of political federation), Beatrice Kiraso, who signed the implementation agreement on behalf of the EAC, lauded the initiative, saying that it was geared at making the continent more peaceful, stable and progressive.

'The EAC has benefitted a lot from the APSA programmes in our peace and security initiatives. We hope to set up our situation room soon and the CPMR framework is almost concluded,' Kiraso added.

An APSA assessment study, completed in October 2010, identified specific gaps, needs and priorities with a particular focus on key components, namely, the Peace and Security Council, the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), the African Standby Force (ASF), the Panel of the Wise and the Peace Fund.

The study suggested that the AU has an opportunity to act as a bridge between RECs and regional mechanisms that are keen on maintaining ownership of their peace and security agenda.

Pana 14/09/2011