The Peace and Security Council (PSC) intervened in the situation in Burkina Faso following the ousting of former president Blaise Compaoré. It gave the military regime two weeks to hand over power to a civilian transitional government. The PSC last month also discussed elections in Africa where a number of African Union (AU) observer missions had been deployed. These included elections in Mozambique and Tunisia.

The PSC is concerned about the structural causes of state fragility. It noted that conflict prevention has to focus not only on triggers of conflict but also on the structural conditions that propel countries into conflict.

Ebola not only threatens the health of citizens in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but also poses a threat to the socio-political stability of these countries.

HE Alain Aimé Nyamitwe, August chair of the PSC says member states of the AU should take action on issues like Ebola and contribute to the Peace Fund.

The publication of the PSC Report is made possible through the support of the Humanity United Foundation and the Hanns Seidel Stiftung. The Institute for Security Studies is also grateful for the support of the following members of the ISS Partnership Forum: the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA.