ANCIP

The aim of this project is to systematically analyze the role of African special envoys (High Representatives, Special Envoys or Special Representatives) appointed by the AU and RECs (ECOWAS, IGAD) in regional non-military interventions. Specific focus will be placed on the knowledge bases, practices, and scope of action of the respective special envoys, their institutional embedding, as well as their interaction and interfaces with other actors. The project also scrutinizes the role of liaison offices of AU and ECOWAS in selected African states subject to African non-military interventions, and their links to other intervention actors such as Special Envoys. As “in-between” structures, liaison offices have a crucial role to bridge and mediate between the organizations’ headquarters and political levels on the one hand and the politics in peacebuilding contexts on the other hand. To this end, the project reconstructs (1) the general practices behind establishing AU/ECOWAS liaison offices as well as (2) based on selected case studies, the role and practices of liaison offices and liaison officers in African non-military interventions.