From 24 to 26 April, the Military Strategic Support Group (MSSG), under the authority of the AUPSC Specialized Technical Committee on Defence Safety and Security (STCDSS), convened its 4th Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to assist the AUC in finalizing the draft AU Counter Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) Strategy document, which was jointly drafted by the AUC and the UNOAU in 2019. The C-IED Strategy seeks to provide the framework for preventing, countering and responding to the threat of IEDs and IED actors across the continent. The strategy would also facilitate and foster greater cooperation, coordination and collective action by the AU, RECs/RMs and AU Member States to support continental, regional, national as well as AU PSOs’ responses to threats posed by IEDs.

The 4th MSSG, which was organized as a workshop, developed the C-IED strategic document with the objectives of ensuring protection of people, critical infrastructure, institutions, and governance structures in Africa. It is also to ascertain ownership and sustainability of C-IED efforts in Africa as well as to ensure progressive capacity development against the menace on the continent. The workshop was sponsored by the British Peace Support Team – Africa (BPST-A) and attended by representatives from the AUC, BPST-A, UNOAU, UNMAS, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and subject matter experts from Assessed Mitigation Options (AMO).