The African Union's Collective Security Mechanisms and the Challenge of Armed Non-State Actors

The African Union has since its establishment in 2001 adopted the principle of collective security in response to the several security challenges on the continent, including terrorism, increasing insecurity, proliferation of arms, political instability among others. Apart from the stipulations of the constitutive Act of the African Union which represents a departure from the nonintervention principles of the Organisation of African Union, the African Union is also collaborating with the United Nations on peacekeeping operations in Africa. This paper, using literary discourses on peace and security in Africa as a point of analysis, argues that the major challenge to the African Union's collective security mechanisms is the activities of armed non-state actors. This paper also reviews the impact of armed non-state actors on peace and security in Africa.The objective of this paper is to examine the African Union's collective security mechanisms and identify lessons for combating the challenges of armed non-state actors in Africa.