Institutionalizing Human Security in the African Union System

The post independent Africa has been characterized by the absence of security expressed by sever conflicts. Most of the conflict are internal and are rooted in the absence of poor development projects and weak human right protections. Though, the insecurities in the continent are affecting individual citizens and the communities at large, the security policy of most states are centered on the concept of state security. The OAU was blamed for ignoring the peoples in the continent by awarding absolute sovereignty for states. Shifts in the security discourse after the end of Cold War in the international arena have seriously affected the security concepts and paradigms in the continent. The AU, eventhough, it has not yet formally followed suit; it has also begun to address the concept, making more frequent references to it in policy documents and in speeches. This book emphasized the importance of having a separate policy document merely focusing on human security. Besides, it looksat the efforts made by the AU in mainstreaming human security in its policy and legal documents as well as the challenges faced by the Union in institutionalizing the concept in its system.