The role of African Union in responding to security challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mali case

This study aims to discuss the contribution of the African Union to the peace of the continent and to reveal how it can overcome its failure in this regard and contribute to the security of the continent. Various security problems in the continent were discussed and the role of the African Union in combating these problems was examined. The peacekeeping missions of the organization in Sudan, Somalia and Burundi were analyzed and the challenges faced by the organization were revealed due to these analyses. The most important of these are: the problem of good governance, political problems, logistics and financial problems. Another important factor is the role of sub-regional organizations of the continent in peacekeeping and cooperation with the African Union. The fact that the sub-regional organizations of the continent do not act together with the African Union in peacekeeping operations but act independently has been identified as one of the most important factors sabotaging the efforts of the African Union. Finally, considering the Mali operations within the framework of the fifth generation, the operations of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in West Africa were examined, and cooperation with the African Union in Mali was emphasized, and as a result, Sub-regional organizations such as ECOWAS have problems in establishing peace. Therefore, it is concluded that peacekeeping missions will become more active if full authority is given to the African Union in this regard. Keywords: Peacekeeping Operations, Security, African Union, Stability