protecting civilians in african union peace support operations: key cases and lessons learned

Par John Ahere

In the 21st century, protecting civilians has become a central goal of peace operations, including of those authorised by the African Union (AU). The establishment of the AU was partly driven by the need to prevent or effectively respond to large-scale gross violations of human rights, through a combination of hard and soft security approaches. Mandating and deploying peace support operations (PSOs) has been one of the most prominent ways through which the AU has sought to promote human security. But to protect civilians against the backdrop of the evolving nature of contemporary security challenges, the AU has consistently had to adapt its concepts and institutional arrangements. This has sometimes proved difficult, because of the challenge of balancing the conventional means of warfare that has characterised many AU PSOs, with unconventional or asymmetrical security threats.