Assembly/AU/Dec.16 (II) Page 1 DECISION ON THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE PROTOCOL RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL The Assembly: 1. UNDERSCORES the urgency of the entry into force of the Protocol relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the importance it attaches to the establishment of this key organ as a body responsible for conflict prevention, management and resolution; 2. COMMENDS Member States that have already deposited their instruments of ratification of the Protocol, namely: South Africa, Algeria, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Libya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Ghana, The Sudan and Rwanda, and WELCOMES the announcement by some other Member States indicating that they have already ratified the Protocol and are preparing to deposit their instruments of ratification; 3. URGES all the countries that have not yet done so, to speed up the process of signing and ratifying the Protocol; 4. COMMENDS the Commission for its initiatives to facilitate the operationalization of the Protocol once it has entered into force, particularly with regard to the preparation of the Rules of Procedure of the Peace and Security Council and the document on the operational modalities of the Panel of the Wise, as well as the establishment of the African Standby Force and the Military Staff Committee. 5. TAKES NOTE of the framework document for the establishment of the African Standby Force and the Military Staff Committee adopted by the Third Session of African Chiefs of Defense Staff held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 15 –16 May 2003; 6. REQUESTS the Commission to convene a meeting of continental experts to consider the Rules and Procedure of the Peace and Security Council and the Modalities of Operation of the Panel of the Wise in order to make recommendations to the Executive Council in March 2004; 7. INVITES the Commission to continue initiatives already begun on these different issues and take the necessary steps to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding on the relations between the AU and the Regional Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Mechanisms and the establishment of the Early Warning System provided for under the Protocol; 8. Pursuant to Article 9 (2) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and in the event where the Protocol relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council enters into force before its next session, AUTHORIZES the Executive Council to take the necessary measures for the operationalization of the said Protocol, including the election of members of the Peace and Security Council and the adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the organ.