The AU Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) of the AUC held  a back-to-back-workshop on the re-conceptualization of the ASF Concept and Validation of Guidelines for RECs/RMs on Standby from 29^th March - 4^th April 2023.

 The workshops were attended by representatives from the AUC, RECs/RMs, including ECCAS, EASF, SADC and NARC. The UNOAU, the British Peace Support Team (BPST), NATO and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were also present at the workshops. Other representatives came from the Training for Peace (TfP) program (which comprises of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI) and the Institute of Security Studies(ISS).

The African Standby Force (ASF) was established within the framework of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) in 2003 as an African Union (AU) blueprint for addressing peace and security challenges on the continent. The establishment of the ASF enables the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to perform its responsibilities in deploying peace support missions and intervention. The ASF is conceptualized on the five Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms  (RECs/RMs) as the building blocks. To ensure it is aligned with the AU Doctrine on Peace Support Operations (PSOs), the Specialized Technical Committee on Defence, Safety and Security (STCDSS) requested the AU Commission (AUC) to work closely with the RECs/RMs to undertake a comprehensive review of the ASF Concept to provide more guidance on its meaning and implications.