PSC/PR/COMM.(DXLIX) Page 1 COMMUNIQUE The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 549th meeting, held on 9 October 2015, adopted the following decision on the operationalization of the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability (ASF-RDC), as well as on the conduct of the AMANI AFRICA II Field Training Exercise (FTX). Council, 1. Takes note of the briefing by the Commissioner for Peace and Security on the progress made towards the operationalization of the ASF-RDC and the preparations for the conduct of the AMANI AFRICA II FTX, as well as of the additional information provided by the Head of the Peace Support Operations Division. 2. Welcomes the progress made towards the attainment of Full Operational Capability (FOC) by the ASF-RDC, including the steps taken towards the integration of the African Capacity for the Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC) into the ASF-RDC, especially through the conduct of AMANI AFRICA II FTX. In this regard, Council welcomes the confirmation of participation by the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) and ACIRC Volunteering Nations in the AMANI AFRICA II FTX, which is scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, and in Lohatlha, in South Africa, from 19 October 2015 to 7 November 2015. 3. Council commends the Commission, the Member States, the RECs/RMs and the AU partners for the contributions that they have made towards the successful conduct of the AMANI AFRICA II FTX, as well as for in the overall process of the operationalization of the ASF-RDC. In this context, Council encourages the Commission to continue its efforts aimed at facilitating the successful conduct of the Exercise; 4. Decides to authorise the conduct of AMANI AFRICA II FTX, whose objective is to validate the capacity of the AU to mandate, deploy, and employ the ASF-RDC as a start-up operation, and to, subsequently, run a full multidimensional peace support operation; 5. Stresses the importance of flexible, predictable and sustainable funding for the ASFRDC through contributions from AU Member States and partners, including the utilisation of United Nations (UN) assessed contributions for AU peace operations as called for in the Common African Position on the Review of UN Peace Operations, adopted by the PSC at its 502nd meeting held on 29 April 2015; 6. Expresses AU’s appreciation to the Republic of South Africa, as the host country for the AMANI AFRICA II FTX, the Southern African Development Community as the host REC, the RECs/RMs and the Volunteering Nations for their support towards the conduct of the AMANI AFRICA II FTX, as well as for the operationalization of the ASF-RDC. Council also expresses its appreciation to the partners, especially the European Union, also for their support for this Exercise;