AU Secures 178 Million Euros for Peacekeeping in Somalia

The African Union has secured 178 million euros of financial support from the European Union for its peacekeeping mission in Somalia in a deal signed on Wednesday.

In a statement, the funding covers the period from January 1 to September 30, 2016.

“The EU fund will be used to cover allowances for AMISOM troops and police, international and local civilian staff salaries, as well as operational costs of the Mission,” read the statement adding that, “It should be reiterated that this renewed financial support to AMISOM comes at a critical moment when AMISOM is engaged in major offensive operations and the preparation of the elections in Somalia.”

This year at the African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, the Assembly agreed to operationalise the Peace Fund, in order to finance the peace and security operations of the Union, through the provision of USD65 million by each of the continent’s five regions per year through the import levy, increasing to USD80 million per region by the year 2020.

This was in fulfilment of the commitment by the Heads of State and Government, made in 2015, to finance 25 percent of the cost of African Union peace support operations.

Further, the Heads of State and Government endorsed the concept of the Peace Fund with three windows: Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation, Institutional Capacity, and Peace Support Operations, as well as the non-financial aspects, including the decision-making process for seeking funding from UN assessed contributions for the remaining 75 percent of the cost of peace support operations, and the human rights and code of conduct compliance framework for Peace Support Operations.

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