The African Union Peace and Security Council has endorsed the establishment of a 5-member panel of leaders from five African countries to support the East African IGAD mediation team, in order to help broker a peace agreement in South Sudan.

According to a council communique sent to journalists yesterday, the ad hoc committee will be composed of the heads of state of Algeria, Chad, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa. They will join an increasingly complex mediation structure involving diplomats from China, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway.

This decision comes after consultations between the AU Commission and IGAD regarding the composition of the AU High-Level ad hoc Committee, and a briefing given to the Council in Addis Ababa on 24 March by the Chair of the IGAD Mediation Team.

In its communique, the AU Peace and Security Council urged the new panel to “meet as early as possible to elaborate its terms of reference and determine its work plan in support of IGAD.”

“Council requested the [AU] Commission to extend all the necessary support to the ad hoc Committee, to enable the AU to fully play its role in the search for a lasting solution to the conflict in South Sudan,” reads the communique.

This development comes in line with IGAD plans to upgrade its mediation effort. Over the last 15 months the East African organization has mediated alone, led by Ethiopia, with several Western powers and China playing the role of observers.

Now those Western powers will take a more active role as part of a so-called “IGAD-plus” mechanism, but no single country will bear unique responsibility for the process.