The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conducted a coordination and benchmarking mission to the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from June 30 to July 4, 2025. This visit is part of efforts to enhance collaboration in implementing the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA IV) and strengthen institutional synergies with the African Union (AU) and other stakeholders. The mission included key personnel from the ECOWAS Peace Fund and the Directorate of Financial Reporting and Grants, who met with counterparts at the AUC, the African Union Peace Fund (AUPF), the APSA Support Programme Management Team, and other relevant parties.
The mission aimed to achieve strategic objectives such as reinforcing coordination frameworks between ECOWAS and AU in line with APSA IV goals. It also focused on advancing data-driven approaches to peace and security programming. Special attention was given to using the African Monitoring and Evaluation Reporting Tool (AMERT), discussing its functionalities for seamless data sharing, monitoring, and evaluation among various stakeholders.
Additionally, the delegation engaged with counterparts at the AU Peace Fund and Compliance and Risk Management Units to benchmark operational models in areas like data management, visibility, fund mobilization, disbursement, and compliance. These engagements sought to identify areas for mutual learning, propose technical roadmaps for platform interoperability, and explore opportunities for capacity building in using digital tools effectively for monitoring and reporting.