What does the African Union’s recruitment and staffing mean for good international governance?

Efficient and effective international governance is to a large extent dependent on the quality of recruitment of human resources into international organisations. A recent study of recruitment and staffing at the African Union Commission mapped staff composition, showing that the organisation is heavily dependent on short-term contracted and lower-ranked personnel. The study demonstrates that informal international practices are deeply embedded in the Commission’s recruitment processes, which has huge implications for staffing, recruitment and performance in international organisations more broadly.