Expected Council Action

Council members are expecting a briefing in April in informal consultations on support for AU peacekeeping, as requested in the October 2009 presidential statement on Peace and Security in Africa. No action is expected at this stage as the Council is expecting a progress report by 26 October 2010.

Background

On 16 April 2008 the Council held a debate on strengthening relationships between the UN and regional organisations and adopted resolution 1809 welcoming the establishment of a joint AU-UN panel to consider options for supporting AU peacekeeping operations. After its chair, former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, it became known as the “Prodi Panel”.

The Prodi Panel’s report was transmitted to the Council in December 2008. It addressed capacity building for conflict prevention in Africa and offered several recommendations involving UN funding from assessed contributions, funding to support AU peacekeeping operations and develop AU logistics capacity.

On 18 March 2009 the Council held a high-level debate on the Prodi report which revealed considerable reservations about the recommendations. The Council adopted a presidential statement requesting the Secretary-General to update “a detailed assessment of the recommendations” particularly those on financing and establishing a joint AU-UN team.

** Read entire update on Security Council Report's site.