Conflicts in the East African and Great Lakes regions took centre stage at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on Friday, as the continent’s leaders sought long-term solutions to the crises.

Although the theme of the 22nd African Heads of State Summit was “Agriculture and Food Security,” the leaders mostly dealt with the crises in South Sudan, Central African Republic, eastern DR Congo, Egypt, Libya and the Sahel region.

READ: CAR, South Sudan dominate Africa Union summit talks

African leaders, the West and the UN have been grappling with the challenges posed by these conflicts. The UN warned that the situation in CAR looked ripe for a repeat of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

In the DRC, UN troops are on alert against a possible attack from M23 rebels, the group which they helped the government defeat last year. In Egypt, a military-backed transitional government is battling to restore the country to constitutional rule.

Critics say the AU has been deeply ineffective in ending these conflicts, resulting in the death of thousands of people and displacement of millions.

“The ongoing crises in South Sudan and Central African Republic are extremely complicated, with very serious consequences,” said Smail Chergui, the commissioner for peace and security at the AU.

On Friday, leaders of the member states of the Intergovernmental Agency for Development assembled to assess the progress made after the South Sudanese peace deal was signed on January 23.

They expressed concern that both sides had accused each other of violations of the peace agreements. The leaders called for the deployment of a group of monitors by February 2, to ensure the full implementation of the peace deal, while joining growing calls by the international community for the release of the last four detainees being held in South Sudan.

Appreciating the release of seven political prisoners by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Wednesday, the leaders called on him to free the remaining detainees so that they could be part of the negotiations expected to commence on February 7 in Addis Ababa.

READ: Kiir releases political detainees to Kenya

Other issues discussed included withdrawal of external forces and allies from South Sudan, alluding to the intervention of Ugandan forces in support of the government.

“We note with concern that since the signing of the two agreements, there have been accusations and counter-accusations of non-compliance with the agreements. Leaders must put the interests of the suffering population first and comply with the agreements with a view to alleviating the situation. Above all, it is important to desist from all actions that may lead to violations of human rights, abuses and crimes that are against all provisions of international law,” said Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The South Sudanese government signed a ceasefire deal with a key rebel group in the restive Jonglei State on January 23. The deal with the South Sudan Defence Army led by David Yau Yau, requires the group to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict.

READ: South Sudan warring parties finally call a truce

“The SSDM/A Cobra Faction agrees to remain neutral in the ongoing conflict between the SPLA (South Sudan army) and the forces led by Riek Machar,” a section of the agreement reads.

Igad envoys have been instructed to hold public consultations with South Sudanese stakeholders with the aim of generating input for a framework of political dialogue and national reconciliation.

These consultations should include political parties, traditional and religious leaders, and groups representing women, youth, intellectuals, refugees and internally displaced people, business communities and other South Sudanese groups.

“As for all those who try to jeopardise this process, they should know that everybody is watching and there will be consequences,” said Donald Booth, the United States special envoy to South Sudan, calling for the release of the remaining detainees and agreeing with an all-inclusive solution.

UN Envoy, Haile Merkorios, said: “In Bentiu, Bor and Malakal, verification and monitoring teams will be deployed as of February 1. The UN is willing and capable of providing technical and logistical support towards this effort.”

“At the end of this meeting, we expect firm decisions on the deployment of peacekeepers and the commitment of member states to mobilise African resources for this purpose,” said Lindiwe Zulu, special adviser to President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

“It is a question of what Africa can do for itself. This needs commitment of AU member states to mobilise their own resources to bring peace to the continent. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get resources from other sources such as the United Nations,” she added.

At the opening of the meeting, AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said: “With concerted political determination and solidarity, and sometimes one step back and two steps forward, we made financing our development and taking charge of our resources a priority, starting with financing the AU, our democratic elections and our peacekeeping missions.”

“The intervention of the AU in helping different countries has been at the level of states,” said Guma Kunda Komey, a senior researcher at the Institute of Peace and Security at Addis Ababa University.

“This is one of the weaknesses of the AU because international and global actors are already directly involved on the ground. If you go to South Sudan now, it is a country mostly driven by external actors. AU is not there, the people do not know the AU,” he added.

Additional reporting by Machel Amos