At the request of the African Union (AU), NATO has provided support to the AU Mission in Sudan and assistance to the AU Mission in Somalia. It is also providing capacity-building support to the AU’s long-term peacekeeping capabilities, in particular the African Standby Force, at the request of the AU.
To ensure maximum synergy, effectiveness and transparency, NATO's assistance is aligned and coordinated closely with other international organizations – principally the United Nations and the European Union – as well as with bilateral partners.
Through its assistance, the Alliance has developed a "very positive and promising" level of cooperation with the African Union, according to AU Commissioner Said Djinnit. In view of the repeated AU requests for NATO assistance, the AU seems keen to build on and expand this collaboration.
NATO’s support to the African Union started in 2005 with assistance to the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). This was the Alliance’s first mission on the African continent and as such represents a landmark decision by the North Atlantic Council. Since then, NATO has committed to other missions.
In June 2005 and at the request of the African Union, NATO began assisting the AU in its mission in the Sudanese province of Darfur. The AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS) aimed to end violence and improve the humanitarian situation in the region. NATO assistance was terminated on 31 December 2007 when AMIS was completed. NATO has offered its support to the UN-AU hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which succeeded AMIS on 1 January 2008.
In March 2007, during a visit to NATO headquarters, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Said Djinnit, evoked expansion of NATO-AU cooperation into new areas, including possible long-term capacity-building support by the Alliance to the AU.
In June 2007, NATO agreed in principle to provide support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). This agreement on providing airlift support has been extended several times and, so far, until August 2008.
On 5 September 2007, as part of NATO’s capacity-building support to the AU, the NAC agreed to provide assistance to the African Union with a study on the assessment of the operational readiness of the African Standby Force (ASF) brigades. NATO received a Note Verbale from the AU on 13 December 2007 on continued NATO support to the ASF. Consultations between African Union and NATO staff will identify specific areas for Alliance assistance to the ASF.
NATO support to the African Union has been agreed upon by the North Atlantic Council, the Alliance’s principal political decision-making body, based on advice from NATO’s military authorities.
