CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY IN MEDIATION:

At the continental level, the main documents are the Constitutive Act of the AU (2000) and specifically, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment 82 Challenges and Prospects for the EAC in Mediation: The Case of the Burundi Mediation Kizito Sabala of the Peace and Security Council of the AU (2002). [...] The programme supported the EAC Liaison Office to the AU; the development of the Early Warning Mechanism; the establishment of the Mediation Framework; peace and security sector policy development; coordination and institutional support to the peace and security sector. [...] In the early stages of the conflict, the principle of subsidiarity that normally defines the cooperation between 93 Mediating Peace in Africa: A study on the role of Mediation Support Units the AU and RECs, worked as the former ceded primary responsibility for the crisis to the EAC. [...] The role of the Secretariat and the peace and security department remained largely 96 Challenges and Prospects for the EAC in Mediation: The Case of the Burundi Mediation Kizito Sabala to service the busy heads of state and governments to run the process. [...] In addition, the AU, the UN and influential actors such as the US and EU, lacked a coherent approach to the issue and failed to exert sufficient pressure on the Community to move the process forward and the parties in Burundi to respect negotiation.