A number of countries are still experiencing internal crises – DR Congo, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali etc. How do you intend to approach these issues with a view to resolving them?
A conflict-free Africa demands that the AU invests in the tools of preventive diplomacy using the pragmatic approach to address new, emerging and specific existing threats. There are a number of approaches we intend to deploy in this regard. One of which is to overhaul the operations of conflict-prevention mechanisms in the AU, for desired results through the pivotal roles of AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), Panel of the Wise, AUC Mediation & Dialogue focus, Master Roadmap on Silencing the Guns and the revitalized AU Peace Fund. This of course, should be situated in the desire to scale up collaboration with relevant Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) such as ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, Lake Chad Basin Commission etc, to constantly engage relevant parties and stakeholders, towards resolution of the conflict. Not forgetting involving the good offices of the Chairperson of the AU and that of the Commission, in harmony to make peace happen. The interface between the AU, RECs and RMs would be beneficial to the vision of a peaceful and secure Africa.