African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Exemplifying African Union Peacekeeping Challenges

AMISOM is the African Unions third peace support operation. Established in early 2007 and and mandated to constitute 8,000 troops AMISOM has suffered from difficulty in generating troops and in deploying troops pledged due to deficient resources of both the AU and its member states. AMISOM shares most of the challenges experienced during the AUs previous mission in Sudan as well as its operation in Burundi: lack of resources, capacity and funding, as well as poor institutional capacity to manage operations. As a result AMISOM has been prevented from implementing its mandate and is heavily dependent on assistance from outside partners, including the United Nations, to fulfil its purpose.