Regional economic communities are, in principal, an integral part of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), as demonstrated by the APSA Roadmap 2016–2020, and a vital element in larger
global peacebuilding structures and processes. However, collaboration is not that easy in practice, often due to capacity constraints. In this policy brief, it is argued that in order to become more effective, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) must consider its comparative advantages in relation to the African Union across the conflict spectrum, and focus its engagements more effectively.
It looks at practical ways to do so by examining concrete best practices and lessons from IGAD’s peace and security engagements.
