Recent trends in peace agreement engagement by African regional economic communities

This article examines patterns of engagement in peace agreements by intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) in Africa. The African Union (AU) and the eight recognised regional economic communities (RECs) are important peace and security actors. However, there is significant variation in REC engagement. This article examines engagement in peace agreements through how organisations ‘show up and sign up’ in the written text of agreements using the IGO Capacity of Engagement (IGO-CoE) dataset. The study finds several significant shifts in engagement during the period of study from 2002 to 2023. These trends are considered in the context of changing dynamics in the region and more broadly in peace and security, including changes in the conflict environment, the selective nature of REC engagement in peace processes, loss of legitimacy for some IGOs, and shifting patterns in how and to what extent peace agreements are used globally.