Pretoria, Aug. 28, 2026 (Lusa) - The Institute for Security Studies argued on Friday that the African Union (AU) summit in Luanda this weekend must not be just more talk about peace, but must produce concrete results.
«The AU summit in Luanda cannot be yet another forum for talk of peace; 18 extraordinary meetings since 2004 have produced declarations more often than results — the Angola summit must take a step forward to produce results,» reads an article published on the website of this South African institute.
The AU extraordinary summit, which is to take place this weekend in Luanda, will focus on strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution, which, the report states, is «a candid admission by African leaders that the African Peace and Security Architecture is struggling to prevent crises, mediate and enforce peace as it should».
In Luanda, according to the ISS, «African leaders could turn the situation around, but not through symbolic gestures; rather than reiterating their commitment to norms and mechanisms and calling for a review of policy documents, the meeting should determine how African leaders can achieve success through existing frameworks and mechanisms, and the answers lie, above all, in the willingness of AU member states to consistently support the AU's decisions and interventions».
The President of Angola, João Lourenço, was appointed in 2022 as the AU Advocate for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa during the organisation's special summit on terrorism and unconstitutional changes of government, and discussions on conflict prevention and resolution have been «central themes in the AU's deliberations and have been discussed at every summit» since its creation in 2002, the report further notes.
The document reviews the 18 extraordinary summits held between 2004 and 2026, concluding that an analysis of the meeting agendas «reflects the AU's desire to address threats, but shows how it continually falls short of its objectives».
The African Union, it adds, «continues to suffer from limited influence in real conflict situations» and the institutional and political reforms carried out by this body «have not resulted in an organisation capable of addressing the causes and manifestations of conflicts, including governance issues».
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