On 6th-8th September 2016, the African Union Commission (AUC) organized a meeting on the operationalization of the recently established African Union Mediation Support Unit (AU MSU) in Addis Ababa. The meeting assembled AU Commission staff both from the Headquarters and the AU Liaison Offices (AULOs), AU Special Envoys, Regional Economic Communities (RECs),including IGAD, ECOWAS, ECCAS and SADC, the United Nations (UN), the European Union, academics and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to discuss and exchange experiences and ideas on how best to structure and operationalize the AU MSU. Participants reviewed existing AU mediation structures, practices, protocols, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and challenges. They then proposed ways to make the mediation efforts of the AU more effective in responding to contemporary demands of the AU mediation landscape.