Addis Ababa, April. 29 - Lesotho has called for accelerated and coordinated reforms to strengthen Africa’s Peace Support Operations (PSOs), citing the urgent need for predictable financing, improved rapid deployment, and more integrated peacebuilding strategies across the continent.

The country’s Permanent Representative to the African Union, Ms. Ntšiuoa Sekete, made the appeal during the 1341st meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council held on April 27, 2026. The session was chaired by Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to the African Union, Ms. Hirut Zemene Kassa.

The open session brought together senior officials and international partners, including former UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations El Ghassim Wane and the Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union, Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga. Discussions focused on the future of PSOs amid increasingly complex and evolving security challenges across Africa.

Addressing the Council, Ambassador Sekete said conflicts on the continent are becoming more multifaceted, driven by terrorism, violent extremism, cyber insecurity, organized crime, and prolonged cross-border tensions. She stressed that PSOs remain a critical tool, describing them as multidimensional efforts that provide security, protect civilians, support governance, facilitate mediation, and contribute to long-term development.

Council members acknowledged the contributions of African-led peace operations over nearly three decades, often undertaken under difficult financial and operational conditions. They emphasized the importance of sustaining PSOs as effective mechanisms that complement political processes while strengthening preventive diplomacy and early warning systems.

However, Ambassador Sekete noted that persistent structural challenges continue to limit the effectiveness of such missions. She highlighted unpredictable funding, uneven rapid deployment capabilities, and fragmented coordination as major obstacles to timely and decisive responses.

To address these challenges, she called for predictable and sustainable financing, welcoming progress under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719 and urging its full implementation alongside diversified funding sources and stronger support for troop- and police-contributing countries.

She further emphasized the need to enhance readiness through renewed investment in the African Standby Force, with the aim of making it fully operational and capable of rapid response. In addition, she advocated for integrated approaches that combine security interventions with governance, stabilization, and development efforts to address root causes of conflict.

Ambassador Sekete also paid tribute to African troop- and police-contributing countries and commended ongoing collaboration with the United Nations and Regional Economic Communities, reaffirming that African ownership must remain central to peace initiatives.

“The credibility of this Council will be measured not by the number of communiqués we adopt, but by the lives we save, the communities we protect, and the stability we restore,” she said.

She also expressed support for the establishment of an annual ministerial forum on PSOs to mobilize sustained financial, logistical, and technical support for African-led missions.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of key decisions expected to shape the future of Africa’s PSOs. Ethiopia, nearing the end of its chairship of the Council, is set to lead follow-up engagements, including a joint retreat with the African Peer Review Mechanism and discussions on the Council’s recent mission to South Sudan.

As Africa faces increasingly complex security threats, Lesotho’s call reflects growing consensus on the need to modernize and strengthen Peace Support Operations through reforms focused on financing, readiness, and integrated peacebuilding.