AFRICAN UNION COMMUNIQUE: 321st AU PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL 22 May 2012 on LRA

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 24, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 321st meeting held on 22 May 2012, adopted the following decision on the AU‐led Regional Cooperation Initiative against the Lord's Resistance Army (RCI‐LRA):

Council

1. Takes note of the Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the implementation status of communiqué PSC/PR/COMM. (CCXXCIX) of the 299th meeting of the Peace and Security on the Lord's Resistance Army [PSC/PR/2 (CCCXXI)], as well as of the briefings by the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security and the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the Commission for the LRA Issue;

2. Welcomes the progress made in the implementation of the RCI‐LRA, including the interaction between the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the Commission and the Member States of the RCI‐LRA (Central African Republic ‐ CAR, Democratic Republic of Congo ‐ DRC, Republic of South Sudan and Republic of Uganda), the neighboring countries and international partners, in particular the United Nations, the European Union (EU) and the United States of America, and the operationalization of the Headquarters of the Regional Task Force (RTF) and the Joint Coordinating Mechanism (JCM);

3. Expresses its appreciation to the AU partners providing support to the RCI‐LRA and to regional efforts against the LRA, including the United Nations, the EU and the United States of America. In particular, Council welcomes the close cooperation between the AU Special Envoy for the LRA Issue, Francisco Madeira, and the UN Special Representative for Central Africa, in charge of the issue of the LRA, Abou Moussa;

4. Endorses the Conclusions of the 1st meeting of the JMC, held in Addis Ababa, on 8 May 2012, under the chairmanship of the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, which relate notably to the command and control architecture of the RTF and other related issues, the protection of civilians and the coordination between the RTF and the UN Missions and Offices on the ground. Council calls upon the member countries of the RCI‐LRA to scrupulously implement these Conclusions, within the agreed timeframe;

5. Decides to renew for an additional period of twelve (12) months the authorization given for the launching and implementation of the RCI‐LRA;

6. Calls upon all AU Member States to provide financial and logistical support to the efforts aimed at implementing the RCI‐LRA, in particular within the framework of the Support Forum whose establishment was agreed upon by the 1st meeting of the JCM;

7. Urges the AU partners to enhance their support to enable the RTF Headquarters to effectively perform the tasks assigned to it and to facilitate the effective functioning of the various operational sectors of the Initiative (Dungu ‐ DRC, Nzara ‐ South Sudan and Obo ‐ CAR), including the deployment of troops. In this context, Council, while reiterating its appreciation to the UN Security Council and Secretary‐General for their support to the RCI‐LRA, invites them to consider modalities of enhanced support through the UN peacekeeping missions present in the area of operations of the RCI‐LRA, including by adjusting as may be necessary their mandates;

8. Welcomes the steps being taken by the Commission for the early convening of the Support Forum comprising the neighboring countries of the affected Member States, as well as other AU Member States interested in the LRA problem and bilateral and multilateral partners already involved in efforts against the LRA, so as to mobilize support for the RCI‐LRA;

9. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.