Assembly/AU/Dec.559(XXIV) Page 2 the relevant AU instruments and PSC communiqués, as well as through the exercise by that body of all the responsibilities entrusted to it; ALSO REITERATES the crucial role of the Panel of the Wise and ENCOURAGES the latter to intensify its conflict prevention efforts; 5. NOTES that in 2015 and 2016, a high number of elections will be organized on the continent and STRESSES that the polls offer a critical window of opportunity to enhance democracy in the concerned Member States. The Assembly calls on the concerned Member States , the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (RECs/RMs) and the relevant AU organs, including the PSC and the Panel of the Wise, to take all necessary steps to ensure that these elections take place peacefully and in the required conditions of fairness and transparency, in line with the relevant AU instruments, notably the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, bearing in mind that democracy and the rule of law are preconditions for sustainable peace, stability and socio-economic development; URGES ONCE AGAIN all Member States that have not yet done so to urgently sign and ratify the Charter; 6. REITERATES THE DEEP CONCERN OF THE AU at the continued worsening of the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism in Africa, as Demonstrated by the cowardly and dastardly attacks perpetrated by different terrorist groups across the continent, including Al Shabaab, the Lord's Resistant Army (LRA), Boko Haram, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in the West Africa (MOJWA), al-Murabitun and the Ansar al-Sharia groups; ONCE AGAIN UNDERLINES the need for renewed African and international efforts to address of the prevailing conditions and, in this respect, URGES the Member States, the RECs/RMs and the Commission to take all steps necessary towards the effective implementation of all the provisions of the communiqué adopted by the 469th meeting of the PSC held at Summit level, in Nairobi, Kenya, on 2 September 2014; EXPRESS FULL SUPPORT to the efforts of the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and Benin in particular the establishment of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to combat the Boko Haram terrorist group, ENCOURAGES the Commission to continue to support these efforts, in line with the relevant PSC communiqués, and CALLS ON the international community to extend all the assistance required; WELCOMES the convening by the Commission, in Algiers, from 27 to 28 October 2014, of a symposium on victims of acts of terrorism, and URGES for the full implementation of the recommendations made on that occasion, looking forward to regular updates in this respect; 7. WELCOMES the progress that continues to be made in terms of peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction in The Comoros, Madagascar, with the continuation of the reconciliation process in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau; URGES all stakeholders concerned to pursue the efforts undertaken and CALLS