[1] The specific goal of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) is the "prevention, management and resolution of conflicts".
However, the OAU still prioritized preventive diplomacy and believed that the United Nations should shoulder most of the responsibility for organizing peacekeeping operations.
Similarly, conflicts in Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo were addressed by the Southern African Development Community.
[2] These sub-regional organizations' large role in addressing regional conflicts led to a debate about the effectiveness of the OAU.
Similarly, the large size of the OAU, its consensus decision-making and its lack of clear procedures both obstructed constructive debate.
[2] Within the Protocol's text, the institutional design, subsidiary committees, powers and goals of the PSC were outlined.
When outlining its Principles, the Protocol cites three inspirations: "the [AU's] Constitutive Act, the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights".
[5] Specific subcommittees that support the PSC, such as the Panel of the Wise, the Continental Early Warning System, and the African Standby Force are detailed in Articles 11, 12 and 13, respectively.
As of April 2020, the following countries occupy the seats of the PSC:[8] Morocco, a member of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, assumed the presidency of this important executive body for a three-year term (2022–2025) starting from the first of February 2024.
Article 7 of the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council lists the PSC's power.
Some of these powers include undertaking "peace-making and peace-building functions to resolve conflicts", recommending intervention to the AU Assembly in "grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity", promoting a close relationship with regional bodies as well as with the United Nations, facilitating humanitarian action and finally, deciding "on any other issue having implications for the maintenance of peace, security and stability on the Continent".
[2] Ben Kioko, the African Union's legal adviser, argued that "[some African] leaders have shown themselves willing to push the frontiers of collective stability and security to the limit without any regard for legal niceties such as the authorization of the [United Nations] Security Council".