PSC/PR/COMM.(DCLXIX) Page 1 COMMUNIQUÉ The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 669th meeting held on 21 March 2017, received a briefing on Early Warning and the State of Peace and Security in Africa and adopted the following decision: Council, 1. Takes note of the presentations made by the AU Commission and by Mr. Vasu Gounden, the Executive Director of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), which is based in Durban, South Africa. Council also takes note of the statement made by the representative of Ethiopia in its capacity as an African Member of the United Nations Security Council (A3); 2. Recalls all its previous communiques and press statements on early warning and conflict prevention in Africa; 3. Expresses deep concern over the persistent occurrence of violent conflicts and crises situations, as well as relapses back to the cycle of violent conflicts in parts of the continent, which continue to undermine Africa’s efforts to provide well for its people using the abundant natural resources available; 4. Also expresses concern over the continued cases of denials to objective/credible early warning signals of looming crises, thereby undermining the conflict prevention capacity of Council, which, in effect often leads to full blown violent conflicts with all attendant political, economic, humanitarian and environmental consequences. In this context, and taking into consideration the efforts called for in Agenda 2063, including those for Silencing the Guns in Africa by the year 2020, Council urges all AU Member States to extend necessary support to the efforts of Council to prevent the outbreak of violent conflicts and crises; 5. Calls for promotion of synergies between the AU Commission and other African institutions, including think tanks and research institutions, whose activities focus on conflict prevention; 6. Deplores the fact that Africa has not taken necessary measures, robust enough to tackle the lopsided pattern of socio-economic development inherited from the colonial systems, which continue to trigger and fuel tensions, instability and insecurity within communities. In this context, Council calls for sustained action to address the root causes of violent conflicts, including inequality, exclusion and marginalization, through measures that boost job creation and balanced income distribution with a view to eradicating abject poverty across the continent;