Assembly/AU/Dec.559(XXIV) Page 1 DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL ON ITS ACTIVITIES AND THE STATE OF PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA Doc. Assembly/AU/7(XXIV) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) on its activities and the state of peace and security in Africa; 2. WELCOMES the steps that continue to be taken towards the full operationalization of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). In particular, COMMENDS the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the successful conduct of Exercise Loango 2014 held in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo, from 19 to 29 October 2014, and the East African Standby Force Coordinating Mechanism (EASFCOM) for having attained full operational capability as confirmed by Exercise Mashariki Salaam 2014, which took place in Nazareth, Ethiopia, from 13 to 22 November 2014; REQUESTS the Commission, the concerned Regional Standby Brigades and Member States and to take all necessary steps to ensure that the African Standby Force (ASF) is fully operational by the end of 2015, as planned, including the holding, in course of this year, in South Africa, of the Amani Africa II Field Training Exercise; FURTHER WELCOMES the steps taken towards the operationalization of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC) including Command Post Exercise Utulivu Africa, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 25 to 29 November 2014; 3. NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the steps taken by the Commission in follow-up to Decision EX.CL/Dec.820(XXV) adopted by the 25th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from 20 to 24 June 2014 on the establishment of the AU Police Cooperation Mechanism (AFRIPOL), notably the holding of two meetings of AFRIPOL Ad Hoc Committee on 2 July and 2 October 2014, in Addis Ababa and Kampala, respectively, to elaborate the draft statutes of AFRIPOL and other relevant legal texts, as well as Identifying the modalities of its funding; LOOKS FORWARD to the finalization of the process and the on-going process and the submission to the Executive Council, in June 2015, of a comprehensive report on the operationalization of AFRIPOL; 4. NOTES WITH DEEP CONCERN that despite the progress made, Africa continues to face serious challenges in the field of peace and security, which undermine socio-economic development efforts, cause catastrophic humanitarian consequences and contribute to project a negative image of the continent; STRESSES the need for increased efforts towards achieving a conflict- free Africa in 2020, as agreed by the Heads of State and Government on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of OAU/AU in May 2013. In this regard, REITERATES the vital importance of conflict prevention, through the scrupulous implementation of