Peace and Security Council (PSC) and Peace and Security Department (PSD)

The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) was established in 2004.  It is a security and early warning body to facilitate timely and effective response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa. Other responsibilities conferred to the PSC include prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, post-conflict peace building and development of common defence policies. The PSC has fifteen members, made up of member states elected on a regional basis by the Assembly.

The mandate of the Peace and Security Department (PSD) of the Commission of the African Union is to support the Peace and Security Council in carrying out its responsibilities and activities.  An important division of the PSD is the Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD), which provides AU Missions, such as MISCA, with strategic level support.

The AU Peace and Security Commissioner since October 2013 is Ambassador Smail Chergui, an Algerian diplomat formerly Ambassador to the Russian Federation and Ambassador to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti from 1997 to 2004. During that time he also served as the Permanent Representative of Algeria to the AU.  As Commissioner he provides overall leadership on peace and security for the African Union Commission. 

The Director of the AU Peace and Security Department since 2009 is El Ghassim Wane.  From Mauritania, Mr Wane has spent most his working life with the AU Commission. He has primarily been involved in establishing structures for preventing crises and conflicts and for managing and resolving them when they do occur.