The AU's Luanda summit must avoid being another talk shop on peace
Eighteen extraordinary gatherings since 2004 have produced declarations, more often than results — Angola’s session must step up to deliver.
The AU extraordinary summit from 29 to 30 August 2026, under the auspices of Angola’s President João Lourenço, will focus on strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution. The summit is an honest admission by African leaders that the African Peace and Security Architecture is struggling to prevent crises, mediate and enforce peace as it should.
President Lourenço was appointed in 2022 as the AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa during the AU Special summit on terrorism and Unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs). Having served as the AU Chairperson in 2025, President Lourenço witnessed the broader AU’s limitations in collective response, thereby finding it imperative to rejuvenate AU response mechanisms.
Conflict prevention and resolution are central to AU deliberations and are discussed at every summit since the AU's inception in 2002. The Peace and Security Council holds at least five meetings a month on security topics and response mechanisms, including its working methods. Most AU extraordinary summits are also focused on peace and security issues reflecting its key impact on Africa’s developmental prospects.
The AU has held 18 extraordinary summits between 2004 and 2026. Agendas spanned topics on AU institutional and financial reform, continental trade integration through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement launch, humanitarian crises, terrorism UCGs, public health and peace and security frameworks. Nine of these summits were in response to peace, security and governance issues and the mechanisms needed to address them.
Eighteen extraordinary summits reflect AU’s desire to counter security threats, yet targets are repeatedly missed
An analysis of these events reflects the AU’s desire to resolve threats but shows how it continually misses its targets.
Making peace happen
The first peace- and security-themed session in February 2004 adopted the Solemn Declaration on a Common African Defence and Security Policy, which defined shared continental threats.
The August 2009 summit in Tripoli was one of the first sessions at which African leaders discussed how to eliminate African conflicts and promote sustainable peace. The summit was motivated by concerns over recurring conflicts and resurgence of UCGs particularly in Mauritania (2008), Guinea (2008) and Madagascar (2009), a situation evident in current trends.
That summit came roughly two years before the Arab Spring that led to the overthrows of some governments in North Africa including the killing of Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. Its outcome was the Tripoli Declaration on the elimination of conflicts in Africa and the promotion of sustainable peace. The declaration and its action plan proclaimed 2010 the year of peace and security and resulted in the launch of the AU Make Peace Happen campaign to coincide with International Peace Day on 21 September. The 2013 and 2016 extraordinary summits covered tense relationships with the International Criminal Court and maritime security, respectively.
AU extraordinary summits for peace
| Year |
Topic |
Host country |
Major decisions and follow-through |
| February 2004 |
Second extraordinary session of the AU Assembly |
Sirte, Libya |
- Adopted the Solemn Declaration on a Common African Defence and Security Policy, defining common continental threats
- Laid the way for the Non-Aggression and Common Defence Pact adopted in 2005
|
| August 2009 |
Special session on the consideration and resolution of conflicts in Africa |
Tripoli, Libya |
- Adopted the Tripoli Declaration and action plan
- Proclaimed 2010 the year of peace and security
- Committed member states to resource the AU Peace Fund and fully operationalise the African Peace and Security Architecture
|
| October 2013 |
Extraordinary session on Africa's relationship with the International Criminal Court |
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
- Resolved that no sitting AU head of state nor government should appear before any international court during his or her tenure
- Accelerated the push for criminal jurisdiction for the African Court, culminating in the 2014 Malabo Protocol on immunity for heads of state and senior state officials
|
| October 2016 |
Extraordinary session on maritime security and safety and development in Africa |
Lomé, Togo |
- Adopted the African Charter on Maritime Security and Safety and Development (Lomé Charter)
|
| November 2018 |
11th extraordinary session on AU institutional reform |
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
- Adopted the reform package flowing from the Kagame report
- Merger of the political affairs and peace and security portfolios into the Political Affairs and Peace and Security department
- Reformed senior leadership selection process
|
| 6 December 2020 |
14th extraordinary session on silencing the guns in Africa |
Virtual (under South Africa's chairship) |
- Adopted the Johannesburg Declaration on Silencing the Guns, extending the master roadmap from 2020 to 2030 with two-yearly reviews
- Welcomed steps towards African Standby Force operationalisation
|
| 27 May 2022 |
15th extraordinary humanitarian summit and pledging conference |
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea |
- Adopted the Malabo Declaration, which called for pledges for humanitarian response
- Directed the operationalisation of the African Humanitarian Agency
|
| 28 May 2022 |
16th extraordinary session on terrorism and UCGs |
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea |
- Adopted the Malabo Declaration on terrorism and UCGs, reaffirming zero tolerance for coups
- Directed full functionality of the African Standby Force and the establishment under its auspices of a counter-terrorism special unit
|
| 29 to 30 August 2026 |
Extraordinary summit on strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution in Africa |
Luanda, Angola |
Upcoming |
Merger to foster linkages
The 11th extraordinary session on AU institutional reform in 2018 was built on the AU reform process of 2017. The reform seeks a whole-of-organisation transformation towards effectiveness across a broad range of AU priorities, including peace and security. This officially merged the political affairs and peace and security departments into one. This sought to foster linkages between conflict prevention and resolution through a single department that ensures political issues are resolved before they escalate into security threats.
Silencing the guns
The December 2020 14th extraordinary summit focused on silencing the guns, as the AU failed to meet its target of a peaceful continent by 2020. The agenda was launched in 2017, about a decade after the Tripoli Declaration and Make Peace Happen campaign and has subsequently been extended to 2030 with two-yearly reviews.
A key campaign born of silencing the guns is AU Amnesty Month for voluntary return of illicit arms, which is barely implemented
A key campaign born of silencing the guns is AU Amnesty Month (September) for voluntary return of illicit arms. Yet very few countries have implemented this. Today’s protracted armed conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic are complex, requiring adaptive and decisive responses. External actors are increasingly becoming key mediators in crises.
Coups and violent extremism
Despite the departments’ merger, the number of UCGs rose rapidly between 2019 and 2025. This exacerbated political instability and insecurity, as seen in the Sahel, where political legitimacy is contested while terrorists and armed rebellion thrive amid military-focused solutions.
As a result, the AU held its 16th extraordinary summit on terrorism and UCGs in Malabo on 28 May 2022. African leaders adopted a declaration that reaffirmed their commitment to democratic values. This was after the multistakeholder reflection forum on UCGs on 17 March 2022, at which the Accra Declaration on UCGs was adopted.
AU institutional and policy reforms have not translated into an AU that is capable of addressing conflicts and their causes
The 16th extraordinary summit also addressed the rise of violent extremism beyond al-Shabaab extremism in Somalia. Al-Qaeda and Islamic affiliates in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin and the Islamic-linked group in Mozambique are significant threats to continental security.
In July 2026, the AU adopted the Continental Strategic Plan of Action on Countering Terrorism in Africa 2026 to 2030, which was proposed during the 2022 Malabo summit. This is envisaged as a unified roadmap to tackle expanding extremist threats, illicit financing and emerging technological tactics. However, the AU has yet to establish the African Standby Force’s counter-terrorism unit mooted in 2020 when the force was declared fully operational and reinforced at the 2022 summit.
Luanda prospects
The outcomes of past AU special summits on peace reflect both the desire for a peaceful continent and the need to implement long-standing commitments. Yet, the AU continues to suffer from limited influence in actual conflict contexts. AU institutional and policy reforms have not yielded an organisation capable of addressing causes and manifestations of conflicts, including governance issues.
In Luanda, African leaders could turn the tables, but not through tokenism. Instead of re-committing to norms and mechanisms and calling for reviews of policy documents, the gathering must determine how African leaders can achieve success through existing frameworks and mechanisms. The answers lie predominantly in the willingness of AU member states to consistently back AU decisions and interventions.
