Enhancing Protection of Civilians in PSO in Eastern Africa Region : Case of AMISOM

To restore sustainable peace in Africa requires more than just ending overt fighting. The African Union (AU) emphasis on “African Solutions for African problems”, has generated a growing interests on the nature of African Peace Support Operations (PSOs). Specifically, this study reviews the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on the role the operation plays in the protection of civilians. According to (Holt et al., 2009), United Nations (UN) peace missions did not have specific guidelines for protection of civilians until late 1990’s. There continues to be cases of violence against civilians in many areas in conflict where peace keepers would otherwise have intervened. The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 reminds us of the gross impact of failure to protect civilians in conflict situation(UN, 2000). Conflict-affected areas are normally fragile and challenging environments. People in conflict areas live very unstable and unpredictable lives, more so in the horn of Africa where the AMISOM is based, and even in other developing countries (World Bank, 2011).