PSC/PR/BR.(CDXXXVII) Page 1 PRESS STATEMENT The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 437 th meeting, held an open session, on 25 May 2014, to mark the Tenth Anniversary of its launching, with the participation of all AU Member States, AU Organs, Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), bilateral and multilateral partners, African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), think tanks and academic institutions. The celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the PSC coincided with the Africa Day Celebration, as well as the end of the year-long Golden Jubilee Celebration of the founding of the Organization of African Unity/African Union (OAU/AU). The celebration provided an excellent opportunity for the Council to take stock of the achievements made and the challenges encountered over the past decade in the promotion and maintenance of peace, security and stability in Africa with a view to achieving the fundamental objective of creating a conflict-free Africa, in line with the letter and spirit of the Solemn Declaration adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government on 26 May 2013. Council received statements from the Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission, the Commissioner for Peace and Security and the Fourth Vice President of Pan-African Parliament, as well as from the various participants reflecting on the work of the PSC over the last ten years in discharging its mandate of promoting peace, security and stability in Africa. Council was also briefed on the outcome of the consultations in Africa undertaken by African CSOs in relation to the 10th Anniversary of the PSC, by the representative of the CSOs from African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and took note of the recommendations reflected in their Conclusions. Council recalled the relevant provisions of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union which attach paramount importance to the necessity of peace, security and stability in Africa as a necessary precondition for the acceleration of socio-economic development and integration of the continent. Council further stressed the need to enhance its use of all available preventive diplomacy tools with the objective of anticipating crises and preventing them from escalating into full blown conflict. In this regard, Council emphasized the importance of strengthening the linkages between early warning and early response, which requires that the relevant AU policy organs operate with the required urgency and act effectively, in concert, on the information provided to them regarding potential crises and conflicts. Council called on the Commission to regularly brief the Council on potential flashpoint on the continent with a view to facilitating and supporting timely action by the Council. To this end, Council emphasized the need for the allocation of more resources to support and strengthen the capacity of the Continental Early Warning System and the good offices’ role of the Chairperson of the Commission and the work of the Special Envoys and Representatives. Council also emphasized the need to draw more proactive on the advisory capacity of the Panel of the Wise, in its capacity as a preventive diplomacy body, in order to take informed decisions.