From 22 to 24 July, the United Nations Office to the African Union provided technical support to an African Union assessment mission to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Gaborone, Botswana, to review implementation of the African Standby Force (ASF) Training Directives 2024–2026 and identify priorities for the next training cycle.
Led by the AU Peace Support Operations Division, the assessment brought together representatives of the AU Commission, SADC Secretariat, SADC Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre, UNOAU, and regional military, police and civilian training experts.
Discussions focused on integrated mission planning and support, civilian rostering, capability development, protection of civilians, and compliance and accountability. Participants noted progress in regional training coordination while identifying challenges related to funding, regional exercises, civilian capability generation, Member State participation and digital learning infrastructure. Emerging training requirements related to misinformation and disinformation, terrorism, violent extremism and humanitarian action were also discussed.
The mission recommended strengthening resource mobilization, expanding Training of Trainers initiatives, enhancing e-learning platforms and increasing emphasis on integrated mission planning, management and support. The findings will contribute to the AU-wide review of the ASF Training Directives and inform the development of the 2027–2029 framework.
