Which African political institutions carry out peacekeeping operations?
The Organization of African Unity, Africa’s most prominent cross-border political body, evolved into the African Union in July 2002. The AU is modeled on the European Union and aims to promote democracy, human rights, and economic development across Africa. Experts say the AU, although more assertive on security issues than its predecessor, still has a ways to go to become truly effective. “The AU is only three years old, and it’s still trying get its act together,” Collins says. “It’s a *****bersome organization. There are so many states and such a disparity in the size and resources of the states” that it takes time to get anything done, he says. The AU relies on regional bodies like ECOWAS and the South African Development Community (SADC) to provide forces and support for peacekeeping operations. Which peacekeeping missions are considered successes? The UN Missions in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL, 1999) and the Congo (MONUC, 1999) are among the missions considered successes by experts. In
