The Africa Governance Report not play a formal role in the AU’s decision-making process; it only makes recommendations to policy organs.30 The African Union also established the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), which works in collaboration with the AGA. The APSA has as mandate to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts on the continent. The AGA supports the APSA in addressing the root causes and drivers of conflicts on the continent. The African Union therefore considers democracy, good governance and the rule of law as instrumental in preventing conflicts.31 According to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) “unconstitutional change of government” means accessing to or maintaining power through coups d’état, intervention by mercenaries to replace a democratically elected government, replacement of a democratically elected government by armed dissidents or rebels, refusal by an incumbent government to relinquish power to the winning party or candidate after free and fair elections, or amendment or revision of the constitution or any other law in a manner that infringes the principles of democratic change of government.32 This issue is currently under review by the AU Member States. The ACDEG has mandated the AUC to develop benchmarks for implementation of its principles and commitments, and to evaluate compliance by Member States. To this end, the AUC has designed a State Reporting Questionnaire that it uses to assess Members States. It also requires Member States to submit a bi-annual report to the AUC on the measures taken to implement its provisions. Very few states have submitted this report.33 The AUC observes elections in Member States as part of its efforts to ensure the implementation of the provisions of ACDEG and the Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (the Durban Declaration). The AU’s Guidelines for Elections Observation Missions of 2002 requires the AUC to not only observe elections (that is, gather information and make informed judgments about them), but also monitor elections (that is, observe the election process and intervene if relevant laws or standard procedures are being violated). The AU initially viewed election observation as a mechanism for preventive diplomacy, that is, a tool for averting the possible outbreak of conflict. The AU now takes a long-term view to election observation and is increasingly looking at all the stages of elections, namely pre-voting, voting and post-voting. Election observation therefore entails examining aspects like constituency demarcation, voter and candidate registration, and post-election dispute settlement, etc. The AU has therefore shifted its election observation focus from just diplomacy to more technical and independent missions.34 Observer missions make recommendations which the concerned Member State is expected to implement before the next election. The AUC has developed a strategy for enhancing these recommendations. This strategy could be used to promote institutional and electoral 30Aggad F and Apiko P, 2017. “Understanding the African Union and its Governance Agenda – African Governance Architecture and the Charter for Democracy Elections and Good Governance”, Political Economy Dynamics of Regional Organisations (2017). 31 African Union, Framework of the African Governance Architecture (2007). 32 ACDEG, (Article 23). 33 African Union, 2018. Progress Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the AU Institutional Reform Pursuant to Assembly Decision Assembly/Y/AU/Dec. 635(XXVIII), Assembly/AU/2(XXXI), July 2018. 34 Aniekwe CC and Atuobi SM, 2016. ‘Two Decades of Election Observation by the African Union: A Review’, 15 Journal of African Elections 25 (2016). Page 52 of 96