Responsibilities and challenges of the African Union

Among the basic agenda that underlie the transformation of the Organization of the African Unity in to the African union is the issue of peace and security. Africa is grappling with several difficult security challenges. These difficulties result not only from the magnitude of these challenges, but also from the lack of capacity of African states and organizations to respond quickly and effectively to them. While the bulk of Africa is compelled to deal with problems in inconsistent manner, there are indications that some states, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Union (AU) are undertaking promising steps to respond. Some of Africa’s core security challenges include: The legacy of historic notions of state sovereignty. The rise of regionalism in the absence of common regional values. The difficulty of managing hegemonic regionalism. Elitism in the form of regional integration occurring only at the level of leaders without permitting the consciousness of the people. The creation of institutions with little or no capacity to manage themselves, resulting in a merely formal regionalism. The perception of regionalism as an externally driven project (Aning Kwesi 2007).