AU-RECs/RMs.Decl Page 2 We also welcome the progress made towards the establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF), in application of the relevant provisions of the PSC Protocol and the Framework Document on the Establishment of the ASF. Although they are at different stages in their efforts, all the regions of the continent have taken the necessary measures for the establishment of the regional standby brigades provided for within the framework of the ASF. In addition, the basic documents relating to the different aspects of the ASF have been elaborated during workshops jointly organized by the AU and the regions. We underscore the urgent need for the holding of the proposed meeting of African Ministers of Defence and Security, which should validate these documents and adopt the roadmap for the second phase of the establishment of the ASF with a view to its operationalization by 2010, including the development of a rapid deployment capability, which should be taken into consideration in the different ASF scenarios. At the same time, we recognize that there is still a lot to be done to render the African Peace and Security Architecture fully operational, particularly the CEWS and the ASF, including: - the strengthening of coordination and harmonization between the continental and the regional levels, in order for all ongoing and future efforts to be fully in line with the arrangements agreed on in this respect; - the rationalization, as much as possible, of the ongoing efforts, in particular by finding appropriate solutions to the problems linked to the fact that some Member States belong to more than one Regional Mechanism, the objective being to avoid duplication and make optimal use of available resources; - the intensification, with the support of the AU and other regions, of efforts aimed at accelerating progress in all the Mechanisms concerned; - the strengthening of the role of the AU, which should fully assume its responsibilities in steering, coordinating and harmonizing efforts aimed at establishing the African Peace and Security Architecture; and - the provision by African States of the human, financial and institutional means required for the establishment and operationalization of the different components of the African Peace and Security Architecture. Status of Peace and Security in Africa Our Retreat reviewed the state of peace and security in the different regions of the continent. We welcome the significant progress made in many countries and regions as a result of the collective, resolute, action of the AU and the Regional Mechanisms, with the support of our partners in the international community. This progress should be consolidated through the implementation of post-conflict reconstruction and development programmes on the basis of the Policy Framework adopted in this respect by the AU Executive Council in Banjul, in June 2006. We undertake to double and better coordinate our efforts to ensure more effective monitoring of this Policy