African Union Compendium, Oxfam International, July 2012
African Union Compendium, Oxfam International, July 2012
African Union Compendium, Oxfam International, July 2012
International
Liaison Office with the African Union
Copyright 2012
International
Designed and Printed by: Modern Centre for Business Services - Ethiopia All rights reserved. Redistribution of the material presented in this work is encouraged, provided that the original text is not altered, that the original source is properly and fully acknowledged and that the objective of the redistribution is not for commercial gain.
Acronyms
ACB ACHPR AEC AIB AMF APRM AU AUC CCP-AU CEN-SAD CIDO CMD COMESA CSOs EAC ECCAS ECOSOCC ECOWAS EU FEMNET FES FIDH ICRC IFAD IGAD International IDEA IPSS IRRI ISS NEPAD NGO OAU OI-AU PAP PRC PSC PSD RECs SADC SOAWR African Central Bank African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights African Economic Community African Investment Bank African Monetary Fund African Peer Review Mechanism African Union African Union Commission Centre for Citizens Participation in the African Union Community of Sahel-Saharan States Citizens and Diaspora Directorate Conflict Management Division Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Civil Society Organisations East African Community Economic Community of Central African States Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union Economic Community of West African States European Union African Womens Development and Communication Network Friedrich Ebert Stiftung International Federation for Human Rights International Committee of the Red Cross International Fund for Agricultural Development Intergovernmental Authority on Development International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Institute for Peace and Security Studies International Refugee Rights Initiative Institute of Security Studies New Partnership for Africas Development Non-Governmental Organisation Organisation of Africa Unity Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union Pan Africa Parliament Permanent Representatives Committee Peace and Security Council Peace and Security Department Regional Economic Communities Southern African Development Community Solidarity for African Womens Rights
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement Chapter One: The pan-African Movement . . . . . . . . . Chapter Two: The Continental Body Chapter Three: African Union Organs Chapter Four: African Union Commission . . . . . . . . . Chapter Five: The African Union Decision-making Process . Chapter Six: The Union Government Chapter Seven: The Process of Meeting Organising & the AU Summit . . . . . . Chapter Eight: Civil Society Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter Nine: Non-State Actors Engaging the African Union . Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 95 77 . . . . . . . . . 61 . . . . . . . . . 57 51 25 . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . 05 01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv v Background of the Compendium . . . . . . . . .
1. African Union Representational, Specialised and Technical Offices . . . . . . . . . . . 96 2. Regional Economic Communities . . . . . Biblography . . . . . . . . . .
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105 108
. . . . . .
. .
Acknowledgement
This publication has come to fruition with the dedication and hard work of staff from two organisations: Fahamu and Oxfam International - Liaison Office with the African Union (OI-AU), namely, Yves Niyiragira and Yemisrach Kebede with strong support in researching, editing and adding invaluable insights from Desire Assogbavi, Heran Ayele, Semiha Abdulmelik, Liyu Dereje, Patita Tingoi, Paul Mwangi and George Gichuki. We would also like to thank the AU staffs from the following offices: The Office of the Legal Counsel, The Office of the Secretary General to the Commission, Archives, CIDO, and Communications and Information Department also the Administration Department who have assisted us with the gathering of pertinent information from various sources, which was instrumental in achieving the comprehensive nature of this publication. It is to be noted that the African Union Compendium, unless and otherwise stated specifically, has made use of publicly available official AU documents, policy instruments, key presentations by AU departmental experts, internet research and research work that has taken into account available information. For information and documents that were researched and written by other veteran activists and institutions working directly with the AU and are incorporated in the Compendium, due credit has been given.
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Union Structures and Processes by Oxfam and AfriMAP However, with the African Union Compendium, .
a holistic approach was adopted in the gathering of information on the institution and a method of organising information about the African Union, its organs, structures, mechanisms that offer both an overview for understanding as well as a comprehensive reference for in-depth insight. Oxfam and its partners are committed to the vision and objectives of the African Union, and continue their engagement with the continental body through different efforts of popularising the African Union, and supporting it to promote the implementation of the various policy instruments that will in essence render better conditions of life for the citizens of the continent.
Chapter 1
1. Introduction
A number of historians and political analysts believe that the creation of the African Union (AU) and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), was a manifestation of the rise of the pan-African movement in the 21st century. In addition, the establishment of the AU was a desire by African leaders to unite all people of Africa in order to face new realities of globalisation, including the role of emerging powers that are shifting the power relations between the North and the South (Adi and Sherwood, 2003). Even though the establishment of the AU was a demonstration of the ascent of the pan-African ideologies, Adi and Sherwood (2003) continue arguing that there has never been a universally accepted definition of what constitutes pan-Africanism. Most recent writers on the subject are reluctant to provide definitions, or provide several, acknowledging that the vagueness of the term reflects the fact that pan-Africanism has taken different forms at different historical moments and geographical locations. They view pan-Africanism as a movement of people, men and women whose lives and work have been concerned, in one way or the other, with the social and political emancipation of African people and those of the African diaspora. For instance, the Oxford Dictionary defines the term pan-Africanism as the principle or advocacy of the political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa. The Cambridge Dictionary writes that pan-Africanism is a belief that people from Africa and their descendants should be united, or a movement to achieve such unity. The Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary says that pan-Africanism is a movement for the political union of all the African nations. Badejo (2008) gives a similar meaning by saying that pan-Africanism is a socio-political worldview, philosophy, and movement, which seeks to unify native Africans and those of African heritage into a global African community. On the other hand, authors such as Cheikh Anta Diop and Thophile Obenga have sometimes used the term pan-Africanism to mean advocacy for a political African unification. In the United States of America, the term is closely associated with Afrocentrism, an ideology of African American identity politics that emerged during the civil rights movement of the 1960s to 1970s (Amate, 1986). Pan-African unity is especially important in African American identity politics because the African ancestry of the Afro-American community cannot be derived from any identifiable African people. Therefore, it has become necessary to minimise the differences between the various people of Africa in favour of a generalised African heritage (Shivji, 2008). Despite those differences in the meaning of pan-Africanism, there is a uniting factor, that is, all the authors believe in some form of unity or of common purpose among the people of Africa and the diaspora (Adi and Sherwood, 2003). In the above short introduction, we did not seek to write about pan-Africanism, as different scholars including the ones quoted above have extensively covered the subject, but rather to attempt to establish a linkage
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2. Origins
As a philosophy, pan-Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, scientific and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present. Pan-Africanism as an ethical system traces its origins from ancient times, and promotes values that are the product of the African civilisation and the struggles against slavery, racism, colonialism and neo-colonialism. It thus includes a variety of ideas, activities and movements that celebrated Africaness, resisted the exploitation and oppression of those of African descent and opposed ideologies of racism (Adi and Sherwood, 2003). Pan-Africanism is usually seen as a product of the European slave trade. Enslaved Africans of diverse origins and their descendants found themselves entrenched in a system of exploitation where their African origin became a sign of their servile status. Pan-Africanism set aside cultural differences, asserting the principality of these shared experiences to further solidarity and resistance to exploitation. Alongside a large number of slave insurrections, by the end of the 18th century a political movement developed across the Americas, Europe and Africa that sought to connect these disparate movements into a network of solidarity putting an end to this oppression. In London, the United Kingdom, the Sons of Africa was a political group addressed by Quobna Ottobah Cugoano an African abolitionist in the 1791 edition of his book Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery. The group addressed meetings and organised letter-writing campaigns, published campaigning material and visited parliament. They wrote to figures such as Granville Sharp, William Pitt and other members of the White Abolition Movement, as well as King George III and the Prince of Wales, the future George IV (Harris, 2003). What we could call the modern organised pan-African movement began around the beginning of the 20th century with the founding of the African Association in London, later renamed the Pan-African Association by the Trinidadian Henry Sylvester-Williams around 1887. The Pan-African Association was concerned, at that time, with solving what they saw as the problem of the twentieth centurythe problem of the colour line, and to secure civil and political rights for Africans and their descendants throughout the world. (Harris, 2003)
Chapter 2
1. Introduction
As mentioned earlier, the origins of the AU and OAU can be traced back to the activities of pan-Africanists such as Henry Sylvester Williams, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, William Marcus Garvey among others. Henry Sylvester Williams was the first to use the term pan-Africanism and the first to organise a pan-African congress in 1900. Whereas that congress had participants of African origins but living in the diaspora, the one that followed, organised by his follower, Du Bois, after his death, had a number of participants from Africa, mainly West Africa (Shivji, 2008). After a series of these pan-African congresses, African leaders from the West French-dominated territories who participated in them started organising on their own to demand equality with French nationals in their countries and later on independence. The sentiment for West African unity was soon to give way to the desire for a wider, all embracing continental African unity. In the early 1960s, for the first time in modern history, leaders of free Africa were able to speak with one voice. They called on colonial powers to take immediate steps to grant independence to the African territories being dominated by them and to ensure that they did not violate the territorial integrity of the independent African states. That aspiration of determining their destiny led African leaders to meet in May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to form the Organisation of African Unity. Leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states participated in the conference at which the OAU was founded. Those countries were Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cte dIvoire, Benin, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zaire. Morocco and Togo, which were not present, were allowed to sign later as founding members.
people of Africa. In addition, there was a need for the continent to respond to its development needs by
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linking political and economic aspects, distribution of resources and the need to distinguish and recognise the role of all stakeholders including the civil society. As such, African countries, in their quest for unity, economic and social development have taken various initiatives and made substantial progress in many areas which paved the way for the establishment of the AU. Worth mentioning among these are: The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Nairobi 1981) and the Grand Bay Declaration and Plan of Action on Human Rights: (Mauritius 1999) two instruments adopted by the OAU to promote Human and Peoples Rights in the continent. The Human Rights Charter led to the establishment of the African Human Rights Commission located in Banjul, The Gambia; Africas Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (APPER) established in 1985 as an emergency programme designed to address the development crisis of the 1980s in the wake of protracted drought and famine that had engulfed the continent and the crippling effect of Africas external indebtedness; The OAU Declaration on the Political and Socio-Economic Situation in Africa and the Fundamental Changes taking place in the World (1990), which underscored Africas resolve to seize the imitative, to determine its destiny and to address the challenges to peace, democracy and security; The Charter on Popular Participation adopted in 1990 as a testimony to the renewed determination of the OAU to endeavour to place the African citizen at the centre of development and decision-making; The Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) in 1991: commonly known as the Abuja Treaty, it seeks to create the AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common Market using the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks. The Treaty has been in operation since 1994; The Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (1993): a practical expression of the determination of the African leadership to find solutions to conflicts, promote peace, security and stability in Africa; The Cairo Agenda for Action (1995): a programme for re-launching Africas political, economic and social development; African Common Position on Africas External Debt Crisis (1997): a strategy for addressing the continents external debt crisis; The Algiers Decision on Unconstitutional Changes of Government (1999) and the Lom Declaration on the Framework for an OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes (2000); The 2000 Solemn Declaration on the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation: establishes the fundamental principles for the promotion of Democracy and Good Governance in the Continent; Responses to other challenges: Africa has initiated collective action through the OAU in the protection
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of environment, in fighting international terrorism, in combating the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria and tuberculosis or dealing with humanitarian issues such as refugees and displaced persons, landmines, small and light weapons among others; The Constitutive Act of the African Union adopted in 2000 at the Lom Summit (Togo) and that entered into force in 2001; The New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD): adopted as a Programme of the AU at the Lusaka (Zambia) Summit (2001).
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to, such as: non-interference by any Member State in the internal affairs of another, but at the same time also recognising the right of the Union to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. This clear decision to abide to the principle of non-indifference is a clear and bold departure from its predecessor, which had its roots in the respect of sovereignty and non-interference. As mentioned earlier, the AU is based on the common vision of a united and strong Africa and on the need to build a partnership between Governments and all segments of civil society, in particular women, youth and the private sector, in order to strengthen solidarity and cohesion amongst the people of Africa. As a continental organisation, it focuses on the promotion of peace, security and stability on the continent as a prerequisite for the implementation of the development and integration agenda of the Union.
The current flag of the African Union was adopted at its 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Addis Ababa on 31 January 2010. The green background symbolises hope of Africa and 53 gold stars represent Member States.
Chapter 2 -
Chapter 2 -
i.
To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;
j.
To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies;
k. l.
To promote co-operation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African people; To coordinate and harmonise the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;
m. To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology; n. To work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent.
m. Respect for democratic principles, human rights, the rule of law and good governance; n. o. Promotion of social justice to ensure balanced economic development; Respect for the sanctity of human life, condemnation and rejection of impunity and political assassination, acts of terrorism and subversive activities; p. Condemnation and rejection of unconstitutional changes of governments.
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Chapter 3
As stipulated in the Constitutive Act, the African Union has nine organs plus the Peace and Security Council that was created in 2003. They are the Assembly of the Union; the Executive Council; the Pan-African Parliament; the Court of Justice; the Commission; the Permanent Representatives Committee; the Specialised Technical Committees; the Economic, Social and Cultural Council; and the Financial Institutions. The Assembly may decide to establish any organ or institution as it considers necessary.
( Non-Official )
The Commission
Executive Council
NEPAD
Steering Committee
NEPAD Secretariat
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Source: Adapted from Civil Society Organisations and the African Union towards a continental advocacy strategy for World Vision, 2007
Chapter 3
of contributions, violation of the principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act and the rules, noncompliance with the decisions of the Union and unconditional changes of government; h. i. To consider and decide on requests for membership of the Union; To adopt the budget of the Union, oversee and direct the financial matters of the Union in accordance with the Financial Rules and Regulations of the Union; j. k. To establish any other organ of the Union; To establish new Committees as it may deem necessary;
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2. The Assembly may delegate any of its powers and functions to any other organ of the Union 2.2. The Executive Council The Executive Council is composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or such other ministers or authorities as are designated by the governments of Member States. It meets at least twice a year in ordinary session as well as in an extra-ordinary session at the request of any Member State and upon approval by two-thirds of all Member States. The Executive Council takes its decisions by consensus or, failing which, by a two-thirds majority of the Member States. However, procedural matters, including the question of whether a matter is one of procedure or not, are decided by a simple majority. In addition, a two-thirds of the total membership of the Union forms a quorum at any of its meetings. The Executive Council adopts its own Rules of Procedure. The Executive Council is tasked with coordinating and taking decisions on policies in areas of common interest to the Member States, including the following: foreign trade; energy, industry and mineral resources; food, agricultural and animal resources, livestock production and forestry; water resources and irrigation; environmental protection, humanitarian action and disaster response and relief; transport and communications; insurance; education, culture, health and human resources development; science and technology; nationality, residency and immigration matters; social security, including the formulation of mother and child care policies, as well as policies relating to the disabled and the handicapped; establishment of a system of African awards, medals and prizes.
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Chapter 3
As an organ responsible to the Assembly, the Executive Council considers issues referred to it and monitors the implementation of policies formulated by the Assembly. It may delegate any of its powers and functions mentioned below to the Specialised Technical Committees. 1. Those functions of the Executive Council include to: a. b. c. Prepare the sessions of the Assembly; Determine the issues to be submitted to the Assembly for decision; Coordinate and harmonise the policies, activities and initiatives of the Union in the areas of common interest to Member States; d. e. f. Monitor implementation of the policies, decisions and agreements adopted by the Assembly; Elect the Commissioners to be appointed by the Assembly; Elect members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and submit to the Assembly for appointment; g. h. Take appropriate action on issues referred to it by the Assembly; Examine the Programme and Budget of the Union and submit them to the Assembly for consideration; i. Promote cooperation and coordination with the the Regional Economic Communities(RECs), the African Development Bank (ADB), other African Institutions and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa(UNECA); j. Determine policies for cooperation between the Union and Africas partners and ensure that all activities and initiatives regarding Africa are in line with the objectives of the Union; k. l. Decide on the dates and venues of its sessions on the basis of criteria adopted by the Assembly Appoint its Chairperson and the other office bearers in conformity with the Bureau of the Assembly;
m. Receive, consider and make recommendations on reports and recommendation from other organs of the Union that do not report directly to the Assembly; n. o. p. q. Set up such ad-hoc committees and working groups as it may deem necessary Consider the reports, decisions, projects and programmes of the Committees; Approve the Rules of the Committees, oversee, monitor and direct their activities; Consider the Staff Rules and Regulations, and the Financial Rules and Regulations of the Union and submit them to the Assembly for adoption; r. s. Approve the agreements for hosting the Headquarters, other organs and offices of the Union; Consider the structures, functions and Statutes of the Commission and make recommendations thereon to the Assembly;
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2. The Executive Council may give instructions to the PRC; 3. The Executive Council may assign tasks to the Commission.
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Chapter 3
The African Court of Justice and Human Rights. The merging was done during the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government on 1 July 2008 in Sharm El Sheikh, Arab Republic of Egypt. It is acting as a jurisdiction in charge of legal matters of the African Union. The functions of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights are to: a. Collect documents and undertake studies and researches on human and peoples rights matters in Africa; b. c. d. Lay down rules aimed at solving the legal problems relating to human and people rights; Ensure protection of human and people rights; and Interpret all the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
2. The PRC may set up such ad-hoc committees and temporary working groups, as it deems necessary, including a sub-committee on Headquarters and Host Agreements, NEPAD and the Cairo Plan of Action of the Africa/Europe Summit. 3. The functioning, mandate, composition and term of office of such ad-hoc committees and temporary working groups shall be determined by the PRC. The quorum for meetings of such sub-committees or temporary working groups shall be a simple majority.
The Specialised Technical Committees are composed of ministers or senior officials responsible for sectors falling within their respective areas of competence and the Assembly can, whenever it deems appropriate, restructure the existing ones or establish others. Within its field of competence, each Specialised Technical Committees has the following functions: a. b. To prepare projects and programmes of the Union and submit them to the Executive Council; To ensure the supervision, follow-up and evaluation of the implementation of decisions taken by the organs of the Union; c. d.
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To ensure coordination and harmonisation of projects and programmes of the Union; To submit to the Executive Council, either on its own initiative or at the request of the Executive Council, reports and recommendations on the implementation of the provisions of the Constitutive Act; and
Chapter 3
e.
To carry out any other functions assigned to it for the purpose of ensuring the implementation of the provisions of the Constitutive Act.
Subject to any directives given by the Executive Council, each Specialised Technical Committee meets as often as necessary and shall prepare its Rules of Procedure and submit them to the Executive Council for approval.
All civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the various sectors are expected to align themselves with the clusters related to their area of work. b. Criteria for Membership Be a national, regional, continental or African diaspora CSO without restriction to undertake regional or international activities; Have objectives and principles that are consistent with the principles and objectives of the Union; Be registered in a Member State of the African Union and/or meet the general conditions of eligibility for the granting of observer status to non-governmental organisations; Show proof that the ownership and management of the CSO is made up of not less than 50 percent of the Africans or African diaspora; Show that the organisation derives at least 50 percent of its resources from the contributions of the members of the organisation.
c. ECOSOCC and the African Court of Justice and Human Rights ECOSOCC as an organ of the AU has access to the proposed African Court of Justice and Human Rights. This is a huge opportunity for CSOs because even though the Courts protocol does not allow CSOs access to the
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court, CSOs can take matters before the court through ECOSOCC. From the provisions of Article 29(b) of the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, access to the court is granted to The Assembly, the Pan-African Parliament and other organs of the Union authorised by the Assembly. In other words the ECOSOCC is an entry point to the court for CSOs as it is a full organ of the African Union.
The Headquarters of the African Monetary Fund is Yaound, Republic of Cameroon. A Memorandum of Understanding to set up a Technical Steering Committee to undertake the implementation for the hosting of the African Monetary Fund was signed on 30 June 2008 between the African Union Commission and the Cameroon Government, at the margins of the 11th ordinary session of the African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government that took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Arab Republic of Egypt. C. African Central Bank The African Central Bank (ACB) was created following the 1991 Abuja Treaty and reiterated by the 1999 Sirte Declaration that called for the speeding up of the implementation process. The ACB, just like the other African financial institutions, is aimed at building a common monetary policy and create the African currency as a way for accelerating economic integration in Africa. The objective of the African Central Bank would be to: a. b. c. Promote international monetary cooperation through a permanent institution; Promote exchange stability and avoid competitive exchange rates depreciation; Assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments in respect of current transactions between members and eliminate foreign exchange restrictions, which hamper the growth of world trade. The Headquarters of the African Central Bank is Abuja, Republic of Nigeria.
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Chapter 4
The Commission is the Secretariat of the African Union and is entrusted with executive functions. Its structure represents the Union and protects its interests under the auspices of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government as well as the Executive Council. The Commission executes its functions through eight main portfolios, namely Peace and Security; Political Affairs; Trade and Industry; Infrastructure and Energy; Social Affairs; Rural Economy and Agriculture; Human Resources, Science and Technology; and Economic Affairs. a. Mission and Values of the Commission The mission of the Commission is to become An efficient and value-adding institution driving the African integration and development process in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens. The values to guide and govern the functioning and operations of the Commission are: Respect for diversity and team work; Think Africa above all; Transparency and accountability; Integrity and impartiality; Efficiency and professionalism; and Information and knowledge sharing.
The Commission is guided by the following principles: Subsidiarity and complementarity with other organs, Member States and Regional Economic Communities; Results orientation, feasibility and impact focus; Close coordination and cooperation with the Regional Economic Communities; Coherence of policies and programmes; and A networking approach that takes advantage of available resources through other players.
The Commission is the key organ playing a central role in the day-to-day management of the African Union. Among other functions, it represents the Union and defends its interests; elaborates draft common positions of the Union; prepares strategic plans and studies for the consideration of the Executive Council; elaborates, pro26
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motes, coordinates and harmonises the programmes and policies of the Union with those of the RECs; ensures the mainstreaming of gender in all programmes and activities of the Union.
m. To take action in the domains of responsibility as may be delegated by the Assembly and the Executive Council. The domains include: control of pandemics; disaster management; international crime and terrorism; environmental management; negotiations relating to external trade; negotiations relating to external debts; population, migration, refugee and displaced persons; food security; socio-economic integration; and all other areas in which a common position has been established. n. To mobilise resources and devise appropriate strategies for self-financing, income generating activities and investment for the Union; o. p. To promote integration and socio-economic development; To strengthen cooperation and coordination of activities between Member States in fields of common interest; q. To prepare and submit an annual report on the activities of the Union to the Assembly, the Executive Council and the Pan-African Parliament;
27
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r. s.
To prepare Staff Rules and Regulations for approval by the Assembly; To implement the decisions of the Assembly regarding the opening and closing down of sections and administrative or technical offices;
t.
To follow-up and ensure the application of the Rules of Procedure and Statutes of the organs of the Union;
u.
To negotiate, in consultation with the PRC, with the host countries, the Host Agreements of the Union and those of its administrative or technical offices;
v.
To build capacity for scientific research and development for enhancing socio-economic development in the Member States;
w. To strive for the promotion and popularisation of the objectives of the Union; x. To coordinate the actions of Members States during international negotiations as well as collect and disseminate information on the Union; y. To assist the Member States in ensuring implementation of the various programs of the Union as well as the policies; z. To provide operational support to the Peace and Security Council and ensure the promotion of peace, democracy, security and stability; aa. To manage the budgetary and financial resources including collecting the approved revenue from various sources, establishing fiduciary, reserve and special funds with the appropriate approvals, and accepting donations and grants that are compatible with the objectives and principles of the Union coordinate and monitor the implementation of the decisions of the other organs of the Union in close collaboration with the PRC and report regularly to the Executive Council; bb. To collect and disseminate information on the Union and set up and maintain reliable database; cc. To undertake research on building the Union and on the integration process; dd. To develop capacity, infrastructure and maintenance of intra- continental information and communication technology; and ee. To prepare and submit to the Executive Council for approval, administrative regulations, standing orders and Rules and Regulations for the management of the affairs of the Union and keeping proper books of accountsa
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Chairperson
Bureau of Chairperson
Deputy Chairperson
Secretary General to the Commission Legal Council Internal Audit NEPAD Secretariat Intelligence & Security Committee Protocol Services
Administration and Human Resource Development Directorate Gender, Women & Development Directorate Strategic Planning, monitoring, Evaluation & Resource Mobilization Civil Society & Diaspora Org. (CIDO)
$
Conference Services Directorate Medical Services Directorate Interpretation Division Gender Outreach Division Gender Development Division Monitoring, Evaluation & Research International Cooperation & Resource Mobilization Division Medical Administration Division
Accounting Division
Diaspora Division
Budgeting Division
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$BETS Division
$
Infrastructure & Energy Department Cairo Energy Division Geneva ACSRT Peace Support Operation Division Peace & Security Department Department of Political Affairs
Rural Economy & Agriculture Department IBAR SAFGRAD Democracy, Governments & Elections Division PANVAC
STRC
ACALAN CELHTO
Trade Division
Education Division
Social Welfare Division IAPSC Washingt ACHPR Malawi Conakry Rural Economy Division Head of Division Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees, Displaced persons Division Food Security & Agriculture Division
Industry Division
Health Division
Division
29
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NEPAD
Protocol Services
Directorate for Strategic Policy Planning, M&E, Intl Cooperation & Resource Mobilisation
2. The Chairperson shall be directly responsible to the Executive Council for the effective discharge of his/her duties Functions of the AUC Chairperson 1. The functions of the Chairperson shall be to, inter-alia: a) b)
30
Chair all meetings and deliberations of the Commission; Undertake measures aimed at promoting and popularising the objectives of the Union and enhancing its performance;
Chapter 4 -
c) d)
Promote cooperation with other organisations for the furtherance of the objectives of the Union; Participate in and keep records of the deliberations of the Assembly, the Executive Council, the PRC, the Committees and any other organs of the Union as may be required;
e)
Submit reports requested by the Assembly, the Executive Council, the PRC, the Committees and any other organs of the Union as may be required;
f)
Prepare, in conjunction with the PRC, and submit the Staff Rules and Regulations to the Executive Council, for approval;
g)
Prepare, together with the PRC, and transmit to Member States the Budget, Audited Accounts and Programme of Work at least one (1) month before the commencement of the sessions of the Assembly and the Executive Council;
h)
Act as depository of all Union and OAU Treaties and other legal instruments of the Union and perform depository functions thereof;
i)
Act as a depository for instruments of ratification, accession or adherence of all international agreements concluded under the auspices of the Union and communicate information in this respect to Member States;
j) k)
Receive copies of international agreements entered into between or amongst Member States; Receive the notification of Member States which may desire to renounce their membership in the Union as provided for in Article 31 of the Constitutive Act;
I)
Communicate to Member States, and include in the Agenda of the Assembly, as provided in Article 32 of the Constitutive Act, written requests of Member States for amendments or revisions to the Constitutive Act;
m) Circulate the provisional agenda of the sessions of the Assembly, the Executive Council and the PRC to Member States; n) Receive proposals, together with explanatory notes, for the inclusion of items on the agenda of the Assembly and the Executive Council at least sixty (60) days prior to the session; o) Receive and circulate requests which conform to the correct Rules of Procedure of the Assembly or the Executive Council, from any Member State, for the convening of an extraordinary session of the Assembly or the Executive Council; p) Assess, in conjunction with the PRC, the need for branches, administrative and technical offices as may be considered necessary for the adequate functioning of the Commission, and create or abolish them as necessary, with the approval of the Assembly; q) Consult and coordinate With the Governments and other institutions of Member States and the RECs, on the activities of the Union; r) s) t) Appoint the staff of the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 18 of these Statutes; Assume overall responsibility for the administration and finances of the Commission; Prepare an Annual Report on the activities of the Union and its organs;
31
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u)
v) Liaise closely with the organs of the Union to guide, support and monitor the performance of the Union in the various areas to ensure conformity and harmony with agreed policies, strategies, programmes and projects; w) Carry out such other functions as may be determined by the Assembly or the Executive Council; x) y) Supervise the functioning of the Headquarters and other offices of the Union; Coordinate all activities and programmes of the Commission related to gender issues.
2. The Chairperson may delegate any of his/her functions to the Deputy Chairperson and in the absence of the latter, to one of the Commissioners.
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Core Functions:
To serve as the focal point for disseminating information and to act as the spokesperson for the Commission;
To draft news releases, correspondence or other informational publications and to assist with distribution of information materials;
To manage, formulate and coordinate development and implementation of outreach as well as advocacy programmes for the Commission;
To establish and maintain lines of communication with constituencies, non-governmental organisations, policy institutions, academia, foundations and associations, as well as identify and coordinate action
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on opportunities to foster support for the objectives and activities of the AU; To formulate and advise on promotional strategies for press conferences, meetings and other activities planned for the outreach and advocacy programmes; To organise research and drafting of materials related to issue-oriented campaigns and events; To ensure development and maintenance of the website as well as relevant automated databases; To provide editorial advice, statements, speeches and replies to frequently asked and anticipated questions for use by senior management; To serve as the focal point for relations with, and support for, departments and programmes on communication and public information strategies and information dissemination; To coordinate implementation of the decisions of the meetings of the African Ministers of Information; To explore the possibility of establishing and managing a television and radio station for the African Union and a newspaper.
To ensure appropriate conduct of ceremonies and public functions; To process documents for diplomatic privileges; To process applications for exit and entry visas on behalf of the staff of the AU; To process laissez-passer applications; To keep flags and national anthems of AU Member States; To compile information on AU Member States and their leaders; To assist representatives/delegations of Member States during AU meetings and other functions, in close collaboration with the host countries.
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The mandate of the directorate is to develop and maintain constructive and productive institutional relationships between Africa and the rest of the world as well as to coordinate the mobilisation of extra budgetary resources. The Directorate of Strategic Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation also ensures inter-departmental coordination in strategic planning for continuous monitoring and evaluation of programme outputs against action plans, as well as to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of programmes in realising organisational goals and objectives. In addition, it shall provide and maintain research and statistical services that will cater for the needs of the entire Commission, other organs of the Union, RECs as well as Member States.
Core Functions:
To prepare rules and procedures for policy formulation, coordination and evaluation; To promote internal best practices concerning strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation; To survey and propose overall operational priorities of the Commission; To assist directorates and offices to develop strategic planning skills; To organise coordination meetings on policy formulation and strategic planning; To lead and provide support for sectoral research projects and ensure their effective implementation; To develop and manage a research and statistics services for the Union; To prepare the annual report of the Commission; To produce an approved annual statement on general orientations and priorities relating to operational and administrative programmes and activities; To propose training programmes relating to programme designing and programme coordination; To ensure that the statistics unit is easily accessible to all organs and the Member States are able to provide updated statistical information; To design and implement monitoring and evaluation procedures for assessing programme achievements and programme effectiveness; To strengthen existing relations and develop relations with other world regions; To seek new areas of cooperation with international partners; To promote a positive image of Africa within the international arena; To popularise the African Union and market its programmes and activities; To initiate, develop and manage policy for international cooperation and resource mobilisation; To coordinate and develop strategies for resource mobilisation; To coordinate the process of proposal and project formulation;
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To coordinate the process of project and programmes monitoring and evaluation; To develop outlines for progress reports; To initiate, develop and manage strategies for sustainability, self-financing, income generation and investment; To facilitate logistical support to coordinate interaction with partners.
The mandate of this directorate is to promote gender equality within and throughout the Union as well as within Member States by translating policy agreements and instruments into measurable programmes and projects. It shall provide oversight by facilitating development and harmonisation of policy, facilitating coordination and initiating gender mainstreaming strategies.
Core Functions:
To harmonise gender policies in the AU organs and Member States; To initiate and manage the gender analysis of policies emanating from the Commission and the AU organs; To design gender sensitive indicators for AU Commission and the AU organs; To develop and manage a gender mainstreaming strategy and promote its implementation; To develop, implement and monitor a gender policy; To design and maintain an efficient coordination framework; To provide training for the uniform application of gender policy and gender mainstreaming strategy within the Commission and AU organs;
To ensure that financial rules and procedures of the African Union are sound, efficient and implemented accordingly
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Core Functions:
To ascertain the completeness, authenticity and proper maintenance of the Commissions financial records in accordance with its regulations, rules, policies and procedures; To review by examination, inquiry and observation the Commissions financial control systems, including those for safeguarding assets and preventing and detecting fraud and theft in order to determine whether additional procedures might be required;
To obtain sufficient reliable evidence to constitute a reasonable basis for audit conclusions on the effectiveness of controls and the degree of compliance with them, using discussion, observation, inspection and analytical review techniques;
To record the planning, supervision and conduct of audits and control systems review, the evidence relied upon and the reasons for any significant audit decisions taken; To report conclusions regarding operational efficiency, effectiveness and recommend improvements in control systems or other action considered desirable; To propose and implement internal auditing policies, rules and procedures for the Commission of the African Union; To prepare and implement an annual auditing programme; To liaise and cooperate with external auditors To prepare and submit an annual report of audited activities, comprising recommendations made and reactions thereon; To draw the attention of programme managers to required improvements; To prepare a report on each audit mission or activity and to submit it to the Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson and, as and when appropriate, to other Commissioners; To undertake any special mission and conduct any investigation as and when requested by the Executive Council and/or the Chairperson.
The Constitutive Act of the African Union is explicit in its intention to create a people-oriented African community in the African Union based on partnership between governments and all segments civil society. The Citizens and Diaspora Directorate will serve as the operational arm for the implementation of this programme. Its mandate is to focus on the implementation of directives related to partnership with African Citizens in general including the African Civil Society and the African Diaspora including faith-based groups.
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Taking into account the bilateral engagements, relationship with networks and other processes occuring outside ECOSOCC, CIDO has a mandate to follow up on such processes as well.
CIDO also has responsibility for mainstreaming the participation of the African Diaspora in the work of the Union and currently serves as the Secretariat of ECOSOCC. The facilitation and support work given to ECOSOCC is in addition to its own set of priorities and actions within the framework of the Commission.
To provide legal advisory and representational services, serve as a depository, as well as to ensure legality in decision-making and compliance with the AU Constitutive Act and all existing legal instruments of the AU.
Core Functions:
To assist and advise the Commission and AU organs on legal matters; To provide legal opinions relating to interpretation of all protocols, rules and regulations of the AU as well as other legal instruments; To assess the legal implications of the activities and decisions of all deliberative, advisory and a dministrative bodies and to participate in the meetings of these bodies; To draft contracts, host agreements, cooperation agreements and rules of procedure of the various organs, treaties and other legal instruments as well as prepare election documents, including materials for elections at the level of the Executive Council and the Assembly;
To represent the Commission and all organs of the AU in judicial proceedings, negotiations or other procedures for the conclusion of agreements or the settlement of disputes; To follow-up on issues concerning implementation of headquarters and host agreements; To ensure that the privileges and immunities of the Commission and its staff and representatives accredited to it are assured, respected and protected as provided for in the headquarters agreements and the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the AU;
To follow up issues relating to international legal matters; To ensure that the legal interaction between the organs of the Union and Member States, other organisations, individuals and other legal entities are regulated in such a manner that the interests of the AU are safeguarded;
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(a) To assist the Chairperson in the exercise of his/her functions; (b) To exercise the functions delegated to him/her by the Chairperson; (c) To shall be in charge of the administration and finance of the Commission; (d) To act as Chairperson in case of death or permanent incapacity of the latter, pending the appointment of a new Chairperson; (e) To act as Chairperson in the absence or in case of temporary incapacity of the latter.
2. In case of absence, death, temporary or permanent incapacity of the Deputy Chairperson, the Chairperson shall, in consultation with the Chairperson of the Assembly, appoint one (1) of the Commissioners to act as the Deputy Chairperson, pending the return of the incumbent or the appointment of a new Deputy Chairperson, as the case may be.
3. The office of the Deputy Chairperson is composed of: the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson; Directorate for Administration and Human Resources Development; Directorate for Programming, Budgeting, Finance and Accounting and; Directorate for Conference Services.
The mandate of the directorate is to plan, develop and manage human resources for optimal organisational performance and to implement action on staff policies and regulations; provide efficient and timely core services, procure and manage human resources for all directorates and offices of the Commission in order to facilitate their smooth functioning.
Core Functions:
To initiate and develop administrative rules and procedures; To promote awareness of best practices in administrative procedures; To initiate, propose and manage human resource policies, taking into account gender and other considerations;
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To ensure a fair and efficient performance appraisal system, including enforcement of staff discipline; To develop and manage policy on medical services as well as provide effective outpatient clinical services drawing on adequate diagnostic services; To initiate, develop and manage a reliable management information system policy; To design and manage a reliable transport system; To design and manage a current and reliable inventory system; To refurbish, build and maintain buildings; To initiate, manage and maintain an effective security system for property and staff; To initiate, design and manage modern library services; To design and maintain an archival system for the AU Commission and other AU organs; To provide an efficient registry service; To ensure a smooth coordination framework for the administrative staff.
Core Functions:
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To prepare integrated programmes of overall operational activities and projects; To prepare and issue instructions relating to budget preparation; To conduct and monitor the process of budget preparation; To prepare the programme budget of the Commission and follow up its implementation; To organise coordination meetings on programming and budgeting; To propose training programmes relating to programme designing, programme coordination and budget preparation; To manage the programme budget of the Commission; To initiate, propose, manage and implement financial policies; To develop and maintain financial and accounting rules and procedures; To promote awareness of best practices in financial management and internal financial control systems;
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To initiate and take necessary actions to collect funds of and for the African Union; To control budget execution and process payments; To invest excess liquidity as authorised; To facilitate the conduct of external audit; To ensure effective implementation of Financial Rules and Regulations; To ensure safe custody of all liquid assets of the Union; To ensure prompt recovery of all receivables owed to the Union; To produce periodic financial and budget execution reports and annual financial statements, in accordance with Financial Rules and Regulations.
The mandate of the Directorate is to provide, plan and manage conference services for the AU Commission and, when necessary, for other organs of the Union as well as to print and reproduce all documents of the AU Commission.
Core Functions:
To plan, organise and service conferences and meetings of the AU and its organs; To determine and provide such conference needs as interpretation, translation, editing and proofreading of policy and technical documents, as well as reports; To print and reproduce all documents of the Commission; To develop a system for the efficient storage, control and distribution of documents before, during and after conferences and meetings of the AU; To identify the technical and material resources needed to service conferences; To ensure that there are venues and documents for meetings; To circulate documents for meetings and conferences; To ensure safe keeping of documents.
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The Directorate of Medical Services is under the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson and is an outpatient polyclinic that provides curative, preventive, and acute care/observation services to the AU staff and registered dependents, AU consultants, African diplomats accredited to Ethiopia and the AU, AU delegates and consultants. It also administers the Medical Assistance Plan and/or medical insurance within the AU Commission and regional offices.
Core Functions:
To provide continuing, comprehensive full-person curative, health promoting and preventive services for employees and dependents of the AU, African diplomats in Addis Ababa and delegates to AU meetings;
To provide medical coverage to participants during AU conferences, meetings and Summits; Medical examinations for pre-employment and assessment for AU Commission, biennial medical assessment of AU personnel prior to renewal; Technical assistance in planning, running and maintaining health services for AU peacekeeping missions.
The Peace and Security Department (PSD) of the Commission of the African Union provides support to the efforts aimed at promoting peace, security and stability on the continent. Currently, the PSDs activities focus on the following areas:
Implementation of the Common African Defence and Security Policy; Operationalisation of the Continental Peace and Security Architecture as articulated by the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the AU, including the Continental Early Warning System and the African Standby Force;
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Promotion of programmes for the structural prevention of conflicts, including through implementation of the African Union Border Programme; Implementation of the AUs Policy Framework on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development; Coordination, harmonisation and promotion of peace and security programmes in Africa, including with the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, the United Nations and other relevant international organisations and partners.
a.
The Conflict Management Division (CMD) focuses on the operationalisation of some of the aspects of the African Peace and Security Architecture (Continental Early Warning Systems, the Panel of the Wise, the Memorandum of Understanding between the AU and the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution). The CMD supports and coordinates activities relating to conflict prevention and management, as well as to post-conflict reconstruction and development. The CMD supervises and coordinates the work of the AU Liaison Offices on the ground. b. The Peace Support Operations Division
The Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) works towards operationalisation of the African Standby Force and the Military Staff Committee, including elaboration of relevant policy documents and coordination with relevant African structures and AU partners. The (PSOD) also plans, mounts, manages and supports AU peace support operations. c. The Peace and Security Council Secretariat
The Peace and Security Council Secretariat provides the operational and administrative support required by the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to enable it and its subsidiary bodies to perform their functions effectively. The Secretariat also acts as the builder and custodian of the institutional memory on the work of the (PSC) and facilitates its interaction with other organisations/institutions on issues of peace and security. d. The Defence and Security Division
The Defence and Security Division is in charge of issues relating to arms control and disarmament, counterterrorism and other strategic security issues, including security sector reform. This division also addresses longterm crosscutting security issues.
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The Department of Political Affairs has remained the core department in the Organisation of Africa Unity (and the African Union) since its inception in 1963. The mandate of the department is to contribute to the emergence of a political environment within and among African countries as well as at the international level that is conducive to bringing about sustainable development and accelerating economic integration of the continent.
Advocate for and assist in ensuring that all African countries respect human rights; Work towards emergence of democratic institutions and sustained popular participation throughout the continent; Encourage transparency and accountability in public affairs, political, economic and cultural areas with a greater involvement of the civil society and the private sector; Devise ways and means of finding durable solutions for problems of refugees and addressing the causes and symptoms of humanitarian crises; Monitor election processes on the continent.
Core Functions:
To develop common positions in the political field for use in international negotiations; To monitor implementation of common policies by Member States; To prepare reports for monitoring and tracking progress on democratisation, good governance and electoral processes; To disseminate reports and share best practices; To develop an effective early warning system for predicting population displacements; To gauge the socio-political impact of international developments on Africa; To develop and monitor policy on popular participation in the activities of the Union; To monitor implementation of international humanitarian law by Member States; To monitor the situation and flow of refugees and displaced persons in Africa; To collaborate with other AU institutions to ensure harmonisation of activities.
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Democracy, Governance, Human Rights and Elections Division whose main functions are to strengthen the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and to strengthen capacity for supporting democratic processes in AU Member States;
Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Displaced persons Division with the core mandate of providing assistance in collaboration with other departments and relevant agencies/organisations to refugees, displaced persons and victims of humanitarian crises;
Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations in New York whose mandate is to develop and maintain constructive and productive institutional relationships between the African Union and United Nations institutions as well as to promote a common view within the African Group in international negotiations;
The African Union Representational Mission to the United States of America in Washington whose mandate will be to develop, maintain and undertake resource mobilisation and consolidate constructive and productive institutional relationships between the African Union and Africans in the diaspora, the Bretton Woods institutions as well as with the Government of the United States of America through marketing of the AU;
The African Union Mission to the Southern Africa Region in Lilongwe, Malawi with a mandate of representing the AU in the Southern Africa Region as well as developing and maintaining constructive and productive relationships between the AU and Member States in the region as well as SADC and COMESA;
The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in Banjul, The Gambia, whose mandate is to monitor, promote and protect human and peoples rights in Member States by developing and maintaining constructive and productive relations between the AU and Member States.
The mandate of this department is to enhance regional and continental efforts for accelerated integrated infrastructural development and effective and sustainable deployment of energy resources.
Core Functions:
To coordinate and harmonise policies on road, rail, air and maritime transport; To monitor and track implementation through the RECs; To harmonise communication policies on telecommunication, Integrated Compliance Information Systems, post and meteorology;
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To promote common policies for the development of private sector initiative in the tourism industry; To coordinate and harmonise policies and programmes on energy development; To ensure availability of policies, strategies and programmes covering all aspects of intra-African and international cooperation in the sectors of transport, communication, tourism and energy; To ensure availability of research findings on the improvement of infrastructure and services; To ensure logistical support for workshops, seminars and meetings of Member States on sector matters; To ensure availability of reports on developments in the infrastructure and energy sectors; To collaborate with AFREC and other specialised agencies; To collaborate with NEPAD and CSSDCA in order to ensure harmonisation of activities.
Core Functions: 46
To initiate and harmonise the social policies of Member States; To monitor and track implementation of programmes and projects emanating from common policies in health, labour and social issues in Africa; To formulate and harmonise policies on matters of population and development as well as to assist Member States in developing and implementing appropriate population policies and strategies; To develop and harmonise policies on health, nutrition and environmental hygiene; To identify emerging social issues that may have an impact on the overall development of Africa; To establish modalities that will assist Member States address challenges posed by migration; To prepare common strategies and compile best practices for combating major health challenges; To develop and harmonise common labour policies in order to enhance productivity in Africa; To develop strategies for establishing an African Labour Market and Labour Exchange; To initiate action for formulating common drug control and related crime prevention policies and strategies as well as to implement the AU plan of action on drug control; To promote the African and international drug conventions and related legal instruments on drug control and crime prevention;
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To integrate drug control measures and other social programmes into the NEPAD strategy; To promote alternative programme development to stem the cultivation of Cannabis; To develop, harmonise and monitor activities relating to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other related infectious diseases.
The mandate of this department is to contribute towards making Africa a significant and competitive trading partner in the global economy as well as an integrated trading bloc within the continent. Furthermore, by initiating policy measures and strategies, the portfolio will also contribute to the structural transformation of the continent by diversifying and modernising production structures through self-sustained industrial development.
Core Functions:
To coordinate formulation and implementation of trade policies with the RECs and to promote inter and intra African trade including reform and follow up of all African trade; To harmonise policies on industry, trade, tariffs and non-tariff barriers and immigration across the RECs; To network with non-governmental entities such as the chambers of commerce at regional level, industrial associations, exporters, importers and NGOs in order to ensure fair trade; To provide backstopping support for AU Member States in global trade negotiations; To monitor global trends in trade and analyse their impact on Africa; To organise, develop and maintain a trade policy data-base and documents on common positions taken by RECs with the aim of harmonising these positions at the continental level; To develop and harmonise policies and instruments for the free movement of persons within the Union and work towards a common African Union citizenship and residency status among Member States; To encourage and support the participation of civil society organisations in trade and industrial activities; To promote inter and intra African trade.
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development of rural economy, particularly through improvement of agricultural productivity and growth of the sector as a whole. It is also charged with promoting measures that will contribute towards enhancing environmental sustainability.
Core Functions:
To promote and coordinate strategies as well as initiatives for development of the African rural economy among the RECs and specialised institutions and centres working in this field; To initiate, propose and coordinate policies and programmes for the development of production capacities (agriculture, livestock, and fisheries) with the aim of ensuring food security in the African continent;
To promote and facilitate development initiatives of rural communities, as well as coordinate efforts towards transfer of technologies; To organise and provide technical assistance to specialised institutions in the fight against desertification, drought and management of natural resources and environment; To coordinate RECs in their efforts towards harmonisation of initiatives to eradicate poverty and alleviate conditions faced by rural communities such as those pertaining to infrastructure and energy, rural women, processing of agricultural products by small-scale producers;
To ensure effective and constructive participation of the Commission in regional and continental efforts towards sustainable development of the rural economy, as well as uplifting the standards of living and production capacities of rural communities;
To follow up agricultural policies and strategies at RECs level and to promote their harmonisation; To organise and ensure participation of the Commission in agricultural research and the propagation of extension services in African countries; To initiate studies on climate change as well as promote collaboration among Member States in these activities; To initiate and coordinate cross-border water management projects
The mandate of the department is to initiate and promote policies and strategies that can enhance the coordination, harmonisation and facilitation of continental collective initiatives in economic integration. It will also undertake measures that will support investment promotion, mobilisation of development financing, building of common financial institutions, undertake econometric research and analysis as well as provide econometric statistics.
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Core Functions:
To develop policies and strategies for the acceleration of economic integration; To coordinate activities that relate to the promotion and development of the process of regional economic integration; To assist in promotion and development of the private sector and investments within and among Member States and RECs; To promote domestic savings in Africa as well international financial inflows to develop and establish continental financial institutions, including a common African monetary Union; To develop monetary and fiscal policies, including strategies that address the debt problem; To ensure coordination of development planning for African economies at both national and regional levels; To promote and facilitate economic policies affecting various stages of development among African RECs with a view to achieving the African common market; To interact with ECOSOCC and civil society; To mobilise resources for economic development and integration projects.
The mandate of the department of Human Resources, Science and Technology is promotion and coordination of human resources development and science and technology policies, particularly the use of ICTs by youth and all groups for the social and economic development of Africa. These policies will enhance the integration process through programmes and activities that are perceived by Member States as reflective of their priority developmental objectives and political stability.
Core Functions:
To coordinate policies relating to human resources development, science and technology in Member States; To promote research in science and technology; To promote integration of ICTs into research and development; To strengthen cooperation in the field of education and training; To coordinate advancement of the development of the continent by promoting research in science and technology;
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To ensure promotion and strengthening in the use of information and communication technologies in socio-economic and socio-cultural development in Africa; To provide logistical support for science and technology; To participate in scientific research and make available reports emanating from this research; To promote the use of principles gleaned from best practices; To promote integration of youth in the development process of the continent; To encourage the interest of youth in science and technology; To provide secretarial services for the Scientific Council for Africa.
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Chapter 5
Decisions of the African Union are normally the result of a long process initiated as a policy proposal by the Commission of the AU, a Member State or a group of Member States or other organs of the Union. Proposals are normally debated in an expert meeting followed by meetings of the Ministers in charge of the particular issue before it gets to the Executive Council through the PRC then to the Assembly of the Union. Not all decisions follow exactly the same process or pattern. Some simple or urgent items can be put on the AU Summit agenda without going through the usual process. There are two principal decision-making organs within the African Union i.e. the Executive Council and the Assembly of the Union. The Assembly, which is composed of the Heads of State and Government, is the supreme decision making organ of the Union. Some decisions are made at the level of Executive Council, while others are made at the level of the Assembly. Decisions made at the level of the Executive Council include decisions on the budget and all other proposals with financial implications and decisions on legal instruments and appointment of elected officials, which are endorsed thereafter by the Assembly.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Chairperson of the PRC, in consultation with its Bureau and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, prepares the provisional agenda of the PRC. However, Member States and other organs of the Union may also propose items for discussion. All PRC meetings are conducted in closed sessions, but from time to time, the PRC may decide to hold open sessions. The Permanent Representative whose country is the Chair of the Assembly chairs the sessions. The Chairperson is assisted by other members of the Bureau i.e. the four Vice Chairs whose countries are members of the Bureau of the Assembly and a Rapporteur. The same Member States who constitute the Bureau of the Assembly will also constitute the PRC and Executive Council Bureaus. The PRC takes decisions by consensus, or where there is no consensus by a two-thirds majority of Member States eligible to vote. Decisions on procedural issues are taken by simple majority of the Member States eligible to vote. The PRC makes recommendations, which only become decisions when they are adopted by the Executive Council.
4. The Assembly
The Assembly is composed of all Heads of State and Government and meets twice in ordinary sessions in January and July each year. It can also convene in an extra ordinary session at the request of a Member State.
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Sessions of the Assembly are preceded by the Ordinary Sessions of the Executive Council and the Permanent Representatives Committee. The agenda of the Assembly consists of items decided upon by the Assembly at its previous session, items proposed by the Executive Council, Member States and other organs of the Union. The Provisional agenda of the Assembly consists of two parts, Part A and Part B (Rules of Procedure of the Assembly): Part A- items which are adopted without discussion in which the Executive Council has reached agreement on, such as ministerial meeting reports; Part B- items that require discussion before approval by the Assembly. The Assembly also takes all its decisions by consensus or where there is no consensus, by a two-thirds majority of the Member States who are eligible to vote. The African Union Commission implements and follows up on the implementation of all the decisions. Before every session of the PRC, Executive Council and Assembly, the Commission prepares progress reports and an implementation table indicating the status of implementation of decisions, constraints and challenges encountered in implementing the decisions. The progress reports are submitted to the Executive Council and Assembly through the PRC. However, there is no consistent mechanism to track the implementation of the AU decisions by Members States at national levels.
5. Authentication of Decisions
The signatures of the Chairperson of the Assembly and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission authenticate decisions adopted by the Assembly. Those decisions are then published in all working languages of the Union i.e. Arabic, English, French and Portuguese in the Official Journal of the African Union within 15 days after the signatures and are transmitted to all Member States, other organs of the Union and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Decisions taken by the policy organs are binding on all the AU Member States, organs of the Union and RECs.
Sanctions for failure to pay contributions; Sanctions for engaging in unconstitutional change of government; Sanctions for failure to comply with policies.
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proposals technical
to
assistance to
information
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Stage 6.
Forum Assembly
Description If approved by the Executive Council, and where necessary, a decision will be sent to the Assembly for final adoption
Possible NGO Actions If issue not decided, continue to gather support; If agreed, congratulate governments for taking bold and positive steps; Set up a monitoring mechanism
Source: Adapted from Strengthening Popular Participation in the African Union A Guide to AU Structures and Processes, OSISA & Oxfam 2010
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Chapter 6
Since the OAU was founded there has been debate among Member States over the framework for continental institutions and the balance between political and economic integration and national sovereignty. The early drive for a Union Government for Africa led by President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was defeated at the 1965 Accra Summit of the OAU, and a quarter-century later the 1991 Abuja Treaty establishing the AEC endorsed a gradualist approach, creating a distant time-table for the achievement of full integration. However, some Member States and some African citizens continued to lobby for integration to progress more rapidly. These debates contributed to the establishment of the African Union to replace the OAU and have if anything become more demanding since the AU Constitutive Act was adopted. Pressure for a more integrationist legal framework for the AU led to the appointment of a committee of seven Heads of State, who presented a report to the July 2006 Banjul Summit. The AU Commission was then mandated to produce a more detailed report on the issues, and produced a Study on Union Government: Towards a United States of Africa, presented to the January 2007 Addis Ababa Summit. The Assembly then decided that there would be one central theme and agenda item at the Accra Summit in July 2007, a Grand Debate on the Union Government. Ahead of the Accra Summit, members of the PRC and Executive Council met in May for a retreat, culminating in an extraordinary session of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in Durban, South Africa, where the Union Government proposals were discussed. The delegations did not reach consensus. The Assembly discussed the Union Government at the Accra Summit on 13 July 2007. The Accra Declaration noted the need for common responses to the challenges of globalisation, for a consensus on shared values, and for the involvement of Africas people and the African diaspora in the debate. In a compromise between those states that wanted to move quickly to the creation of a United States of Africa and those that were more cautious, the Assembly agreed to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent, and accelerate the rationalisation of the RECs, and also to conduct an audit of the institutions and organs of the AU to review the challenges they already faced and make proposals on how best to move forward. A ministerial committee was appointed to work on these issues. A panel of eminent persons was set up to conduct the Audit Review and presented a long and detailed report to the January 2008 Summit on the functioning of the existing AU organs. Among the many recommendations made were that: > The Assembly should return to one annual meeting of Heads of State and Government and the term of the Chairperson should be two years. > The Executive Council should be renamed the Council of Ministers and be composed sectorally, with different ministers attending according to what is on the agenda. > The Commission should be reorganised to strengthen the authority of the chairperson. The chair and deputy chair should be elected six months ahead of the rest of the commissioners, and the chair should assign portfolios to the individual commissioners.
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> Implementation of AU decisions should be improved by ensuring that the first item on the agenda of each Assembly session is a review of previous decisions, by the establishment of National Commissions on AU Affairs and by the imposition of sanctions for noncompliance.
At the January and July 2008 Summits, the Assembly decided to postpone decisions once again. In January 2008, the election of a new Chairperson and Commissioners of the AU Commission went ahead according to the previous system, and the Assembly appointed a Committee of Twelve Heads of State and Government (Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda) to review the proposals made by the audit review. At the July 2008 Summit, the Assembly requested the AU Commission to present a report on the modalities for implementing the recommendations of the Committee of Twelve to the February 2009 Assembly, with a view to bringing the debate to a final conclusion at that meeting. At a special session of the Assembly held on 1 February 2009, however, the Assembly decided only to transform the AU Commission into an AU Authority, with strengthened resources and powers, and to refer further decisions (such as a proposed reorganisation of departments) once again to the next Summit after further study of the necessary amendments to the Constitutive Act by an Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council. The Executive Council met in Libya in April 2009, to consider the functions of the new AU Authority, the size of the Authority, the functions of the secretaries who would head the new departments, and the financial implications of establishing the Authority. The Conclusions of the Executive Councils Extraordinary Session were modest. Ministers endorsed an expansion of the areas of competence of the AU Authority, which would replace the AU Commission, but left the structure of the Authority mostly unchanged from that of the Commission and did not follow the recommendations of the AU Audit Review to strengthen the powers of the chairperson. The Extraordinary Session also emphasised that the AU is a Union of independent and sovereign States; as such, it is an inter-governmental organisation and all its organs are of an inter-governmental nature. In all cases, the Assembly shall retain its right to delegate any function and/or power to any organ of the Union including the Authority. The Authority has, however, been given the role of coordinating the AU position on key issues. These conclusions were endorsed by the Assembly during the JuneJuly 2009 Summit, also held in Libya. The long delays in finalising the proposals for the restructuring of the AU reflect not only technical differences about the best way of configuring the secretariat of the African Union and the powers that should be given to its different organs, but also philosophical differences among African leaders about the future direction of the continent, including concerns about the role of state sovereignty in a more integrated Africa. Almost all Africans welcome the drive for greater African integration, but some also fear that the creation of new institutions without broad consultation among Africas people could result into less rather than more space for democratic participation in the work of the premier continental body. African civil society organisations and parliaments need to engage in this debate. Fundamental questions remain unresolved about the structure and reach of Africas continental institutions and the degree of protec59
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tion for national sovereignty. The revision of the Constitutive Act that is underway provides opportunities for advocacy on issues such as when and how the AU structures may intervene in a Member State; on the priorities among the various challenges the continental structures should address; on the relationships between different AU executive organs and between those organs and the Pan-African Parliament; on the participation of civil society in the activities of the executive organs, including especially the PRC;on the legislative authority of the Pan-African Parliament, the system by which its members are chosen, and the participation of civil society in its work; and on the structure of ECOSOCC and its relations both with the AU executive organs and with other civil society organisations. These issues are too important to be left to technocrats and governments.
Soure: Adapted from Strengthening Popular Participation in the African Union A Guide to AU Structures and Processes, Part Three, The Union Government Debate, OSISA & Oxfam 2010
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1. Introduction
Different departments of the AUC in the execution of their technical and facilitation role continuously conduct meetings with Member States, development partners, various stakeholders and experts. This chapter outlines set procedures that guide these meetings. Some of these meetings are statutory, having been approved by the organs of the African Union, others, such as Experts meetings are non-statutory and are held as directed by the needs of the Departments Annual Work Plans. This chapter deals mostly with the statutory meetings, which may be ordinary, extra-ordinary or special meetings. Where it is relevant and appropriate, procedures for preparing Ordinary AU Summits will also be discussed in details.
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Adoption of Decisions and Declarations of the Assembly Any other Business Date and Venue of the next Summit Closing Ceremony
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website the meeting documents, agenda and work programme shall be sent out to the invited participants at least 30 days before the meeting to ensure that the later have enough time to read them and thereby facilitate their informed participation in the meeting. An Aide Memoire shall be produced by the technical team of the department outlining the theme of the meeting, the objectives and expected outcome of the meeting. This shall be sent out to Member States at least three months before the meeting is held. Speeches and statements for the meeting shall be drafted and submitted at least ten days before the meeting.
6. Hosting Agreement
Meetings held outside the Commissions premises are held with the collaboration of the Commission and the Member State in whose country the meeting takes place. Normally the Member State will have offered to host the meeting. In this case a Hosting Agreement is signed between the African Union Commission and the hosting country. A standard agreement document exists in the Commission, Which is processed by the relevant Department responsible for the particular meeting, in collaboration with the AUC legal counsel, through the hosting countrys diplomatic representative to the Commission. The Department, through its Director will ensure that the hosting country is aware of its obligations as outlined in the agreement, and is in agreement thereof. Where there are any queries, these will be discussed with the department and an agreement reached and signed. This process shall be completed at least three months before the meeting to allow for a second country to host the meeting if the original country was in any way constrained to execute the agreement. For Ordinary AU Summits, additional logistical arrangements provided for by the host country include: Reception of all official delegates, starting from the Heads of State and Government and their delegations; To provide enough accommodation for all official delegates and other independent individuals attending the Summit; Ensure security, primarily of all Heads of State and Government and their delegations; Clearance of state/official aircrafts carrying Heads of State and Government and their delegations; Provide media facilities for journalists covering the Summit; The AU Commission and the host country usually set up media facilities to be used by the members of the press who are covering the Summits. In addition, different delegates and officials can use the media facilities to hold press conferences or to update and or give their views to the members of the press regarding the issues of the Summits. Make sure that there are enough health facilities for the delegates among other measures.
7. Preparatory Committee
A multi-disciplinary, inter-departmental committee shall be set up two months before the meeting to coordinate the arrangements of holding the meeting under the leadership of the Director of the Department in charge. This
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committee shall regularly brief the Commissioner of the organising department on progress made.
8. Protocol Arrangements
The Department in charge of organising the meeting, through its Director, shall inform the Protocol Department of the AUC, in good time, about the nature, venue and dates of the meeting, including the kind of participants expected, to ensure that necessary arrangements are made by Protocol Department.
9. Press Coverage
The Department in charge of organising the meeting will liaise with the Press Department of the AUC and also with the Hosting Country to ensure that necessary press coverage for the meeting is provided.
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of delegations from each Member State and other participants in order to make necessary preparations for all logistics. 17.1. Accreditation to Summits Accreditation is the official process of getting authorisation to attend AU Summits. There are six types of accreditation: 17.1.a. Delegate Accreditation This is the authorisation given to AU Member States. Each Member State is entitled to one head of delegation, usually the Head of State or Government plus four other people. However, it is common practice for Member States to bring larger delegations of officials from different ministries, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President. These delegates can attend other meetings and be present during different parts of the Summit. 17.1.b. Observer Accreditation Non-governmental organisations, non-African governments, UN agencies and other international partner organisations and institutions may be given accreditation to the AU Summits as observers. With observer status at the AU Summits, delegates do not have the right to speak or even the right to attend more than the opening and closing ceremonies of the Executive Council and Assembly sessions. Civil society organisations wishing to obtain accreditation as observers to a Summit send their request to CIDO many weeks in advance of the meeting, so that the names of the individuals seeking access can be put on the list of those invited by the AU Commission held by the protocol department at the Summit venue. However, in practice this system is not advertised anywhere and the numbers who may be granted such assistance are likely to be limited. Luckily, other AU directorates and departments may also forward names of selected organisations to be given accreditation. 17.1.c. Staff Accreditation Delegates of the host country as well as the staff of the AU Commission are given this type of accreditation. 17.1.d. Media Accreditation This type of authorisation to attend the Summits is given to national and international press and other media institutions that wish to cover the proceedings of the Summits. 17.1.e. Security Accreditation Security Accreditation is given to the members of security that are charged with ensuring the safety of all Summit delegates, especially the Heads of State and Government and their delegation.
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17.1.f. Protocol Accreditation Protocol Accreditation is issued to officers in charge of all protocol services during the Summit. 17.2. Badges To ensure security and ease of identification of participants, all delegates are given unique badges. Apart from high-level delegates, there are two types of badges that are required at Summits. One is a security badge bearing the delegates photograph; the other indicates the meeting that is being attended. In general, the following types of badges are used: Heads of State and Government as well as Heads of delegations are issued with special golden pins that give them access to all venues and events; Foreign Ministers are issued with special silver pins in order to give them access to relevant venues and events; Other ministers are issued with special ministerial badges to give them access to relevant venues and events; Members of the Permanent Representatives Committee are issued with special PRC badges to identify them and allow them access to relevant venues and events; Other delegates are issued with delegate badges to give them access to relevant venues and events; Security officers are given specified security badges to give them access to allowed areas at the conference centre and other venues; Members of the press are given press badges to give them access to areas allowed for the press; Members of observer delegations are issued with observer badges to give them access to venues and events allowed for observers; Support staff from diplomatic missions are issued with support staff badges to give them access to areas allowed for support staff; Host country support staff are issued with designated badges.
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Department of the AUC will provide information on who is eligible for election or re-election, as set out
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in the rules and regulations of the AUC. The Bureau shall be composed of a Chairperson, three vice-Chairpersons, and a Rapporteur. Official participants of the meeting will conduct the election in a closed session. For Ministerial Meetings, members shall be elected on regional basis, having earlier agreed on which region will take which office on a rotational basis. Normally the country selected to host the meeting shall take the chair. b. Chairperson: The persons elected to that position during the election of the Bureau shall chair meetings. These persons will chair the meetings until the election of the next Bureau. In the absence of the elected Chairperson, the person holding the position of first vice-chair will chair the meeting. In the absence of both the Chairperson and the three vice-Chairpersons, the bureau will elect a Chairperson for that meeting from among themselves. For meetings of the department that do not have an elected bureau, the Commissioner of the department or her assistant, normally the Director of the department will chair the meeting or make arrangement for the same with the delegates of the meeting. c. Rapporteur(s): For a meeting that has an elected bureau, the person elected as rapporteur will be the official recorder of that meeting. In his or her absence the bureau will elect a rapporteur from among itself or among the official delegates of that meeting, for the recording of that meeting. For meetings of the Department, the Director of the department shall provide a rapporteur for the meeting from among the secretariat or from among the official delegates of the meeting. d. Official Language(s) of the Meeting: For Ministerial meetings of a continental coverage, the four official languages of the African Union, notably, English, French, Arabic and Portuguese will be used. For regional meetings, only those languages common to the region concerned will be used. In either case the African Union or the hosting country or both will provide translation resources. For meetings other than Ministerial meetings, official language used will depend on the needs of the participants. Where more than one language is used the Department in charge of organising the meeting will arrange for translation resources as necessary. e. Quorum of the Meeting: Decisions and recommendations of the meeting shall only be binding if the meeting had attained a quorum of two-thirds of the Members States officially registered at the meeting. The Rapporteur, in consultation with the legal counsel of the African Union Commission shall record and report to the meeting the quorum status of the meeting. f. Opening Ceremony: A separate official opening ceremony programme will be produced. This programme will be at the beginning of the meeting unless circumstances require it to be rescheduled. g. Official Announcements and Procedural Matters: The secretariat of the Department in charge of organising the meeting will communicate with the Chairperson any announcement and procedural matters designed to guide the smooth running of the meeting. It will be the responsibility of the Director of the department or his/her designated assistant to guide the chair on procedural matters relevant to the meeting. A Note Verbale shall be prepared by the department and sent to all Members States and shall also be posted on the official website of the African Union Commission in the official languages of the African Union. The Note Verbale shall indicate the theme of the meeting, the expected delegates to the meeting, the place where the meeting was scheduled to be held and the dates of the meeting.
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h. Adoption of the Agenda: The adoption of the agenda shall normally be the second item on the provisional agenda of the meeting, after the election of the bureau. The Chairperson will present the proposed agenda to the delegates at the beginning of the meeting for a brief discussion and then adoption. Items on the agenda may be deleted or modified. Normally no new items will be added to the agenda. Where modifications are proposed on the agenda, the Department will guide the chair as to whether or not there was enough background documentation to permit informed discussion of the modified topic(s). Member States shall be encouraged to comment on the provisional agenda communicated to them to ensure the department prepared background documents for any revisions proposed. i. Adoption of the Work Programme: The Chairperson will present the proposed Work Programme, including procedural matters to the delegates at the beginning of the meeting for a brief discussion and then adoption. Normally no new items will be added to the Work Programme. Where modifications are proposed, the Department will guide the chair as to whether or not the modifications were feasible within the agreed period of the meeting. j. Presentation of the Work Programme in the Meeting: Items on the agenda shall be presented in the meeting as oral presentations, with effective use of visual aides, panel discussions, which may be preceded by an introductory presentation, which may be oral or film/video. These will be followed by plenary session discussion from which decisions and recommendations will emerge. k. Points of Order: During discussion of any matter, an official delegate may, at any time, raise a point of order. The Chairperson shall immediately rule upon the point of order. Any appeal against the ruling of the point of order shall immediately be put to the vote; otherwise the ruling of the Chairperson shall stand. A member raising a point of order may not speak on the substance of the subject matter under discussion. I. Adjournment of Debate: During discussion of any matter, an official delegate may move for the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion. In addition to the person who proposes the motion, one other delegate may speak in favour and one against the motion, after which the motion shall immediately be put to the vote. m. Closure of debate: An official delegate may, at any time, move for the closure of debate on an item under discussion, whether or not any other delegate had signified the wish to speak. Permission to speak on the closure of the debate shall be accorded to only two delegates opposing the closure, after which the motion shall immediately be put to the vote. n. Suspension or Adjournment of a Meeting: During the discussion of any matter, an official delegate may move for the suspension or adjournment of the meeting. No discussion on such a motion shall be permitted. The motion shall immediately be put to the vote. o. Order of Motions: The following motions shall have precedence in the following order over all other proposals or motions before the meeting: (i) To suspend the meeting; (ii) To adjourn the meeting; (iii) To adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;
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(iv) To close the debate on the item under discussion. p. Consideration of Reports: The department in charge of organising the meeting shall prepare relevant reports of the meeting for presentation and discussion at the meeting. These will normally be an update on actions on the subject matter since the previous report if any. The reports will have been prepared by officers of the department directly related to the subject matter and, will be presented by the Commissioner or his/her representative. q. Voting Procedures: Should any vote be required for the adoption of report or opinion, the legal counsel of the African Union shall guide the meeting on the procedure to be followed and which people were eligible to vote as per rules and regulation of the African Union Commission. Each Member State shall have one vote. Unless otherwise decided, voting shall be by show of hands. After the voting process has commenced, there shall be no interruption of the voting, except on a point of order by a delegate in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. r. Any Other Business: Any official delegate to the meeting may raise items for discussion under Any Other Business. The department will guide the chair on the relevance of the raised item to the current meeting. Where the item may need to be referred to another forum for discussion the secretariat will advise the chair according. s. Selection of Venue and Date of the next Meeting: The legal counsel of the African Union will guide the meeting on the selection of the venue of the next meeting. The secretariat will guide the chair on the most appropriate dates based on the rules and regulations of the African Union, and also based of commitments already on the calendar for the concerned persons and the secretariat. t. Adoption of the Report of the Meeting: The official rapporteur of the meeting will present a summary of the report of the meeting to the delegates towards the end of the meeting for adoption. Any corrections made and verified by the delegates will be made and presented to the secretariat for finalisation and dissemination. u. Closing Ceremony: A programme for the official closing ceremony will be produced by the secretariat of the department and circulated to the delegates a day before the closure of the meeting. v. Immediate Follow-up Action i. Finalisation of the Report: The Secretariat shall finalize the report of the meeting within two days of closing the meeting at the site of the meeting. To minimise expenses, the head of the secretariat will identify the relevant persons to finalise the report and release the rest to travel back home. The report shall then be translated into the official languages of the African Union within three days of concluding the meeting. ii. Distribution of Harmonized Report or Outcome of the Meeting: This shall be done within one week of concluding the meeting iii. Evaluation Meetings: These meetings shall be conducted and attended by all departments involved in the meeting within two weeks of concluding the meeting. The meetings shall analyse and document the strengths, weaknesses; opportunities encountered and prepare comprehensive recommendations to be implemented to improve on the next meeting.
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iv. Follow-up on Meeting Recommendations and Decisions: Relevant officers of the department shall commence follow-up actions on the decisions and recommendations of the meeting and regularly brief the Commissioner on progress made.
The sequence of events in the preparation for AU Summits in civil law countries is usually as follows,
The ministry of foreign affairs receives the agenda from its mission in Addis Ababa, and immediately organises, through its African Union branch, an internal consultation that is generally attended by the legal affairs branch, the international organisations branch and, according to the importance of the Summit, the general secretariat of the ministry and the office of the minister. The aim of this initial consultation is to provide the ministry with a more complete vision of the issues to be discussed during the Summit. At the outcome of the consultation, a document is produced and presented to the minister. It contains the comments and suggestions made by the ambassador in Addis Ababa at the time of sending of the agenda. Following that, the ministry of foreign affairs dispatches the various technical documents to the technical ministries covering the proposed topics for their written comments. An inter-ministerial consultation is then organised by the ministry of foreign affairs, in close collaboration with the office of the president of the republic and the concerned departments of the office of the prime minister, with a view to preparing a fact sheet for each item on the agenda and ensuring that the other ministries cover all the technical aspects of the items on the Summit agenda. At the outcome of these two consultations, the fact sheets are gathered into a single file containing the draft position papers on each agenda item or, at least, on the items of particular interest to the country in question. The file is presented to the minister for approval. After such approval is obtained, it is submitted to the president of the republic who provides a clear political orientation on each of the proposals contained in the file. (It may happen that the president gives instructions that are in total contradiction with the proposals put forward by the consultations organised under the aegis of the ministry of foreign affairs.) While the file is being prepared, the ministry remains in regular contact with the ambassador accredited to Addis Ababa for updates on the items on the agenda and opinions on the proposed positions. After it is prepared, the document is presented to the president for approval. The president submits it to his staff for an in-depth review, following which it is formally approved.
i. Towards A People-Driven African Union- Current Obstacles & New Opportunities, 2007. Chapter 3, page 19-20
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In common law countries, the process is not dissimilar: Officials at the diplomatic mission in Addis Ababa transmit documents to the department of foreign affairs. The documents will be accompanied by a briefing document from the ambassador in Addis Ababa who also sits on the PRC. This briefing document contains observations on positions of other Member States on particular issues on the agenda. At the department of foreign affairs, the document is referred to the relevant official who heads the AU/Africa affairs desk. The Africa affairs desk may comprise a team of six officers. They will be responsible for drafting the briefs. A director within the foreign affairs department holds a meeting within the department to chart a strategy. This includes identification of relevant departments to make inputs under the agenda items. Depending on the issues, lead government agencies such as the department of justice/attorney generals office will be requested to submit the governments position on the relevant agenda item. The AD Department will give the governments agencies requested to make submissions a period by which inputs should be receive. An inter-departmental meeting is held to discuss the submissions. The permanent secretary (or deputy) of the ministry of foreign affairs or director general/director within the department of foreign affairs will lead these meetings. On an ad-hoc basis, the officials at the AD/Africa desk may meet with civil society to discuss specific issues that may be discussed at the Summit. The Africa desk coordinates responses from other government agencies into a consolidated document. This document is then transmitted to a senior official, either a director general or permanent secretary for approval; the minister of foreign affairs (but not usually the president) will sign off on the final document. The foreign affairs ministry/department coordinates the delegation to represent the state at the Summit. Once approved identical sets of documents are then transmitted to those who will be representing government at the Summit. Ideally, this is done approximately two weeks before departure to the Summit. Where documents are outstanding, this will be indicated in the prepared briefing documents. In the case of the president attending the Summit, an advance team will visit the location to view premises.
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The nature of CSOs in development work is changing from the traditional direct and efficient service delivery. There currently is growing need for civil society to participate in policy processes, in order to bring about sustained long-term development and change alongside governments and other stakeholders. The increased attention on issues of governance, human rights, social inequality and poverty amongst others in Africa, has been the motivation for civil society to work on enlarging space for advocacy. Continued policy influence CSOs are beginning to yield especially at the National and Regional level in Africa, is a strong reason to build on the African CSOs capacity to play a stronger role in the policy making forum at the Continental level. The emergence of reformed and reform-minded institutions such as the African Union and bodies such as the Pan-African Parliament, processes such as the Africa Peer Review Mechanism and bold steps at consolidating democracy have all opened new opportunities and challenges for Africas civil society. Over the last few years, there has been the emergence of pan-Africa civil society organisations (NGOs, networks, alliances, coalitions and movements as well as think tanks and research centres) that have tried to engage directly with the AU on a diverse set of policy issues (HIV/AIDS, womens rights, Trade and Peace and Security). As the role and influence of these groups increase and become more important, maintaining and expanding future space for autonomous and direct civil society interaction with the AU will become critical. Due attention and space need to be given in the debate to identify opportunities and challenges for CSOs when using evidence to inform policy, share best practice, and build capacity in order to achieve better collaboration amongst CSO actors and the policy-makers.
1. The African Union understands civil society organisations as those entities, including but not limited to: a. Social groups such as those representing women, children, the youth, the elderly and people with disability and special needs; b. Professional groups such as associations of artists, engineers, health practitioners, social workers, media, teachers, sport associations, legal professionals, social scientists, academia, business organisations, national chambers of commerce, workers, employers, industry and agriculture as well as other private sector interest groups; c. Non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations and voluntary organisations; d. Cultural organisations e. Social and professional groups in the African diaspora in accordance within the definition approved by the Executive Council. ( Source: ECOSSOC Statutes)
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Furthermore, the decision by African leaders to establish the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC)
2
was a demonstration of the African Unions response to the calls for democracy and development
from Africas vibrant civil society institutions. Aware of the rich and diverse human and institutional resources at the grassroots level, the continents leaders were determined to build a Union that is people-oriented and based on strong partnerships between the governments and all segments of the society. However, AU policy-makers have recognised that AU-CSO relations cannot be limited to ECOSSOC; as such various bilateral forms of engagement are also utilised. These include the signing of memoranda of understanding between civil society organisations and the AU Commission or specific departments within it; granting of observer status to observe AU processes and meetings; pre-Summit consultative forums, and consultative meetings on specific agendas ( Ikome 2008) . The African Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO), located within the Office of the Chairperson of the AU Commission is responsible for following up on such participatory activities and serves as the official liaison office for civil society wishing to interact with the AUC, in addition to serving as the secretariat for ECOSOCC.
2 The African civil societys legitimacy of engaging the African Union is found in the mandate of the ECOSOCC detailed in Chapter 2 or 3 for additional information
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activities. Invitations can come from organs and institutions such as ECOSOCC, CIDO, the Pan-African Parliament and other African Union Commission departments. CIDO: Tasked with facilitating CSO affairs and ensuring their participation in the activities of AU organs through the various departments and forums among other tasks. ECOSOCC: established as a vehicle for building a strong partnership between governments and all segments of the African civil society, ECOSOCC is an advisory organ of the African Union composed of different social and professional groups of the Member States and its members have official status in the structures of the Union. By sending a delegation of five members to the AU Summits, ECOSOCC becomes an important channel to influence policies at the AU. The Pan-African Parliament: it is an advisory and consultative organ to the Union and has its secretariat in Midrand, South Africa, where it holds its regular sessions in November and March each year. Sessions are open to non-state actors and they organise direct interaction between parliamentarians and CSOs every year, which is an open discussion on any chosen topic. The Peace and Security Council: Article 20 of the Protocol establishing the Peace and Security Council states that the PSC shall encourage non-governmental organisations, community-based and other civil society organisations, particularly womens organisations, to participate actively in the efforts aimed at promoting peace, security and stability in Africa. When required, such organisations may be invited to address the Peace and Security Council. As such, this is the main instrument calling for the participation of civil society actors in the AUs peace and security architecture. The said article 20 was operationalised by the development of the Livingstone Formula in 2008, which set out the modalities for interaction between the PSC and civil society. Article 10 of the Protocol on the Rights of Women also establishes that the right to peace encompasses the right to participate in the creation and maintenance of this peace. Moreover, of note are policy documents such as the Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development policy which explicitly highlight the role of civil society.
b. The Joint Spaces Some civil society organisations jointly/or in close cooperation organise activities with the relevant AUC department and organs based on different thematic areas. For example, any organisation together with the AU can agree to come together and hold an event targeted at other CSOs and maximise the collaboration by working closely with the department in the AUC, with additional support from the particular division and or/ cluster of ECOSOCC, and representatives of the Member States who are chairing a particular group for a period of time, or have championed the issue at hand. (The Peace Day training as case study on pg 81.) This is a great way to give exposure for civil society working nationally to continental platforms for engagement, understanding of value added of engaging at the AU level and bring together civil society members and interlocutors to discuss and come to a consensus on various models, mechanisms and strategies for input and engagement with policy components.
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Case Study
Peace Day and APSA Training Oxfam International-Liaison office with the AU (OI-AU) participated in the Peace Day celebrations organised by the AU Commission on September 21st 2011.This was part of an overall collaboration between OI-AU and the Peace and Security Department of the AU Commission which included a programme of training and dialogue with civil society working in the area of peace and security. OI-AU, in partnership with Fahamu, sponsored 15 members of civil society/NGOs working in the area of peace and security to travel to Addis Ababa to visit the Peace and Security Department of the AU Commission, receive training on the African Peace and Security Architecture, and deliberate on the PSD/civil society relationship. (OI-AU, 2011)
c. The Self-Created (Autonomous) Spaces These are spaces created by the CSOs themselves in organising autonomous activities related to AU issues and processes. For instance activities can be organised around themes such as peace and security, democracy and good governance, womens rights, freedom of movement among others. They can also prepare detailed analytical reports for the various policy-organs.
Case Study
African Common Position on the Arms Trade Treaty Oxfam Interantional-Liaison office with the AU (OI-AU) organised a series of bi-lateral meetings with a number of African Ambassadors on the need for a globally binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as well as a strong African Common Position ahead of the 2012 United Nations diplomatic conference to negotiate the ATT. These meetings were conducted together with the African Forum on Small Arms (AFONSA). In addition to policy recommendations, requests were made to Ambassadors to ensure civil society space at the subsequent Lome meeting on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the African Common Position in September 2011. In addition to these bi-lateral meetings, a roundtable bringing together a wider group of AU Member States representatives was organised to collectively discuss some of the challenges in arriving at an African Common Position as well as the key issues and considerations that should be included in the common position such as risk assessment criteria for arms transfers. (OI-AU, 2011) d. The Invited Spaces Special committees (i.e.: African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child) invite expert CSO actors to input in the technical debate as necessary and by invitation only. This level of involvement, however limited and dependent on the invitation and goodwill of the members of the particular entity, allows for a positive step in the right direction regarding contribution of invaluable information to the betterment of the final policy document. A similar process once instituted would be the associate ad-hoc participation of non-
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qualifying members of the African and wider Civil Society in the ECOSOCC Clusters work, as per invitation and needed (yet to be formalized). e. Other Opportunities In addition to the above-mentioned avenues, members of civil society organisations can also influence the AU decision-making process in the following ways by: Staying updated on activities of the AU by looking at the AU calendar of events and seeking information pertinent to the particular lobbying opportunity; Analysing each AU decision which will help them to know what is going on; Focusing on specific issues and have accurate information to be strategic and relevant; Knowing the countries that are influential and the countries that will be interested in the issues they propose to talk about (Power Analysis); Identifying countries in the relevant committees so as to do targeted advocacy and last but not least, checking the level of compliance by the various countries of the AU documents and use these documents for advocacy. The African Union is made up of Member States; and engagement with the Union should go beyond the African Union Commission or other organs of the Union, such as with national governments in the various Member States: CSOs can monitor the decisions taken at the various Summits and determine whether these decisions are being complied with. They can then hold their governments accountable for commitments made, instruments signed and ratified but not complied with. The role of civil society has for long been proven to be very important in pushing for compliance with policies through identification of weaknesses and encouragement to governments to improve on their performances; Civil society organisations can also carry out independent monitoring of the activities of AU organs as well as those of AU Member States through a series of surveys and comparative analyses.(see SOTU case study below)
Case Study
State of the Union Coalition The Purpose The lack of effective implementation of international or continental standards and policies has a direct impact on human development and economic indicators. Thus impact is also the consequence of poor governance in Africa as well as weak capabilities of African citizens and civil society organisations to hold their Governments accountable for the decisions they take in multi-lateral spaces, particularly the AU. The State of the union Coalition was formed in 2009 by ten organisations
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multi-sectoral monitoring group that is holding African Governments accountable for the ratification and implementation of African Union decisions. A key factor in their interest in the coalition is their frustration with the slow speed of integration of AU decisions and declarations into national policies, laws and budgets. Currently, important policy debates concerning the livelihoods of African citizens do not involve broader public participation. Concerted public pressure and united political will are needed at both continental and national levels to make the AU a reality in the lives of ordinary citizens. It urges compliance with fourteen specific policies
7
policies and standards offer the greatest promise for fighting poverty, discrimination and injustice. The ten AU legal instruments and four policy frameworks have been selected in recognition of the tremendous opportunities they offer for eradicating poverty, promoting justice and realising political, economic and social rights in Africa. Unless the gap between policy and practice is addressed, the policies developed at the level of the African Union will have no impact on the development, fundamental freedoms and human rights enjoyed by African citizens.
7. The ten legal instruments are: The African Youth Charter; African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights in Africa; African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance; African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption; Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; Revised African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources; Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community; Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan- AfricanParliament The four policy frameworks are: The African Health Strategy 2007-2015; NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Plan (CAADP); Abuja Call for Accelerated Action towards Universal Access to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Services by 2010; Maputo Plan of Action for the Operationalisation of the Continental Policy Framework for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 2007-2010
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Since the African Union was created in 2002, there have been a growing number of non-state actors trying to establish relationships with different organs and institutions of the African Union in order to influence, in one way or the other, the decision-making processes of the continental organisation. The increasing number of non-state actors engaging with the African Union has had an impact not only on development of policies and their implementation but also in popularising the AU among African citizens. This chapter looks at selected examples of organisations with AU-related programmes.
Fahamu
Fahamu is a non-governmental organisation that seeks to strengthen and nurture the movement for social justice in Africa by generating knowledge to serve activism, bridging the gap between theory and practice Tuliwaza; creating learning for, by and across movements Adilisha; amplifying Africa-centred voices, perspectives and solutions in policy and decision making at all levels Utetezi and creating platforms for analysis and debate Pambazuka. Fahamus work is consistently interconnected, for instance, as the organisation works on creating platforms for Africa-centred advocacy through Utetezi, it continues to generate analysis through Pambazuka that spurs in-depth thinking and knowledge generation through Tuliwaza, in turn contributing to learning by and from the movements through Adilisha. It is this cycle and synergy that makes Fahamu uniquely placed to continue to grow networks for social justice and position itself to support change. Established in 1997, Fahamu is distinctively placed as a pan-African organisation supporting and working collaboratively with social movements over the long term. Rather than imposing generic solutions to address the needs of and to strengthen movements, Fahamu is committed to ensuring that its interventions are relevant, timely and significant to the movements it serves. In addition, Fahamus approach respects the collective leadership, self-determination and self-sustainability of its partners. Furthermore, Fahamu seeks to provide diverse and innovative approaches, tactics and resources to the social movements that it works with. With its expertise, access to information and networks, it seeks to enhance the access of transformative social movements to each other as well as to the processes, knowledge, skills, experience and platforms to strengthen their work. Fahamu has made a significant contribution to media and freedom of expression in Africa, using information and communications technologies. Its award-winning online publication, Pambazuka News, carries an indepth analysis of African current affairs and provides a platform for social justice issues across the continent. In terms of its engagement with the African Union, Fahamu established in 2007 the AU Monitor Initiative to enable African civil society organisations to engage constructively with the African Union and its organs in the interests of promoting justice, equity and accountability through the provision of high-quality and timely information.
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In the framework of engaging the African Union and its organs and institutions, Fahamu is involved in initiatives such as the campaigns led by the Solidarity for African Womens Rights and the State of the Union coalitions aimed at ensuring that African countries implement the various charters and protocols of the African Union they have ratified. Fahamu has established good working with various AU organs including the Peace and Security Department, the Gender, Women and Development Directorate, the Political Affairs Department and Citizens Directorate among others. Contact Address: Tel.: +254 20 374 9346 E-mail: [email protected]
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need arises by resourcing different meetings and providing reports. Although ISS has other offices in Africa, its Addis office coordinates all the other offices in order to ensure that the ISS is constantly working to address AU requests. In order to attain this, ISS works with the Peace and Security Council, Peace Support Operation Division and Political Affairs Department of the African Union Commission. Contact Address: Tel.: +251 11 515 6320 Fax.: +251 11 515 6449
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Liaison office with the AU
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It directs and coordinates the international relief activities conducted by the Movement in situations of conflict. It also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. The ICRC Delegation to the African Union (AU), based in Addis Ababa, works closely with the different organs of the AU and all its member states to draw attention to the needs of those affected by armed conflicts and other situations of violence, to promote greater recognition and much wider implementation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) throughout Africa and raise awareness of ICRCs role and activities on the continent. The ICRC has also further strengthened its partnership with the AU through the secondment, since end 2009, of an IHL expert to support the activities the Peace and Security Department and related Divisions. Since the signature of the cooperation agreement in 1992, the ICRC has an official observer status to the AU, which has been granted by the organization of the African Unity (OAU). Contact Address: Tel.: +251 11 50 3911 / +251 11 51 8579 Fax: +251 11 51 3173
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FIDH deploys a large range of actions that have proved to be effective: urgent reactions, both public and confidential; international fact-finding, trial observation and defence missions; political dialogue; advocacy; litigation and public awareness campaigns. In terms of advocacy, FIDH focuses on international and regional intergovernmental bodies such as the UN, EU, ASEAN, or AU. Along with offices in Geneva, New York, Brussels, The Hague, Bangkok and Cairo, FIDH has opened an office in Nairobi with a view to strengthen its interaction with AU institutions and NGOs access to them. For many years now, FIDH advocates for the strengthening of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), the main body in charge of promoting and protecting human rights on the continent. To this end, FIDH constantly supports the participation of human rights defenders in the ACHPRs ordinary sessions, produces well-documented shadow reports, organises briefings on the human rights situation in Africa, provides Commissioners with its expertise on specific topics or uses the quasi-judicial mandate of the Commission. At the AU level, FIDH concentrates its efforts on increasing the interaction between human rights defenders and AU representatives and advocates for the development of a strong AU human rights strategy/ approach reflected in its main decisions. FIDH, which is at the origin of one of the pending cases before the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, also focuses on the strengthening of this Court, in particular by lobbying States for the ratification of its Protocol and for the guarantee of an effective access to the Court by individuals and NGOs. FIDH also intends to increase its advocacy towards Regional Economic Communities (REC) including ECOWAS and SADC. Contact Address: Tel.: + 254 707 156 103 (Nairobi office) Tel.: + 33 1 43 55 25 18 (Paris office)
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) - Liaison office with the AU
International IDEA has a long standing relationship with the African Union. Such relationship has culminated with the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations in Accra, Ghana, 30 June 2007. The MoU contains a detailed five-year Joint Action Plan which outlines the key programs of collaboration including: support to the implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance and its provisions, as well as the provisions of previous Charters and Declarations, promotion of democratic elections, strengthening of political parties, support to constitution building, and mainstreaming gender issues to promote the involvement of women. The focal points for IDEAAU relationship is the Liaison office in Addis Ababa and for the AU-IDEA is the Department of Political Affairs. However, the adopted flexible framework of JAP calls for wide range of partnerships, involving all relevant AU departments and partners in the implementation of the plan. The Liaison Office to the African Union: The mandate of International IDEA Liaison Office to the African Union is to ensure the smooth running of JAP. The office also shapes the relationship between IDEA at large and the African Union Commission and engages in dialogue with IDEA Member States and civil society organizations located in Addis Ababa, on how best to support the African Union.
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IDEA Input: DPA/AU and IDEA Liaison Office jointly define needs, skills and resources which will contribute to the implementation of specified tasks. Together they develop coordination mechanisms, detail targets, work plans and timetables. IDEA resources, among others. experience and knowledge base. Contact Address: Tel.: +251 11 371 0908 / +251 11 371 0913 inputs consist of human, financial, information, knowledge and technical Support to AU is based on IDEAs areas of specialization and the comparative
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International
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Regional Inter-governmental institutions. This relationship was rewarded in 2009 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Plan International and the AU. It also has an enriching working relationship with the AU African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), with an observer status with the ACERWC and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). Plan International is strategically engaging the African Union and institutions on Child Rights, Child Protection, Education and Youth Empowerment. Plan International has just signed a hosting agreement with the Ethiopian government to set up its Pan Africa Program & AU Office which focuses on policy, advocacy and campaign on its strategic themes and drawing from its presence on the ground across Africa. Contact Address: Tel.: +251 11 467 0175 Fax.: +251 11 416 15 42
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Disclaimer
It is important to note that the organisations profiled in this chapter have reviewed and confirmed the accuracy of the information listed above. It is also important to note that this does not represent an exhaustive list of nonstate actors engaging the AU and that there are many more non-state actors including coalitions such as the Centre for Citizens Participation on the AU, Femmes Afrique Solidarit and the State of the Union, who actively engage the AU in their respective line of work.
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Annex 1
1.
A. African Union Representational and Specialised Offices Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations New York
The mandate of the permanent observer mission of the AU in New York is to develop and maintain constructive and productive institutional relationships between the AU and the UN institutions as well as promote a common view within the African group in international relations. Core Functions: To assist in coordinating the activities of the African Group; To advise headquarters on strategies for addressing emerging issues at the UN; To assist member states to adopt common positions in the UN; To circulate information on the AU and the UN; To assist the Commission prepare for UN activities especially for the UN General Assembly; To maintain contacts with UN agencies based in New York, including the UNDP and UNICEF; To follow-up on issues related to NEPAD at the UN level; To assist with procurement for the commission and other organs; To facilitate the exchange of information between the AU and the UN; To provide logistical and technical support to the African Group
2.
Mandate To develop and maintain constructive and productive institutional relationships between the African Union and United Nations institutions as well as to promote a common view within the African Group in international negotiations. Core Functions: 96
To assist in coordinating activities of the African Group; To advise Head Quarters on strategies for addressing emerging issues at the UN; To assist Members States adopt common positions in the UN; To circulate information on the AU and UN; To assist the Commission prepare for the UN activities in Geneva; To follow-up on AU/UN Programmes of Cooperation;
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To maintain contact with UN agencies based in Geneva; To follow-up on issues relating to NEPAD; To assist with procurement for the Commission and other Organs; To inform on AU activities; To facilitate the exchange of information between the AU and the UN; To facilitate follow-up and work in all related agencies; To assist in liaising with the Africans Diaspora in Europe.
3.
Mandate To develop, maintain, undertake resource mobilisation and consolidate constructive and productive institutional relationships between the African Union and Africans in the Diaspora, the Bretton Woods Institutions, as well as with the Government of the United States of America through marketing of the AU Core Functions: To assist in coordinating activities of the African Group in the Americas; To advise head quarters on strategies of addressing emerging issues in the Americas; To assist Member States adopt common positions in their relationship with the Americas; To circulate information on the AU in the Americas; To assist the Commission prepare for meetings with Congress, Bretton Woods Institute and the Organisation of American States; To build a political constituency and support for Africa in the Americas; To monitor political developments of concern to Africa in Americas; To establish working relationship with the Organisation of American States; To maintain contact with the various political pressure groups and pro-Africa Groups; To coordinate activities of the African Group in Washington D.C.; regarding contacts with the Congress of the United States, the World Bank and IMF; and to mobilise support for Africas development efforts; To constantly liaise with the Congressional Black Caucus and other groups that are sympathetic to Africa, in their activities to advocate policies that will help shape and influence progressive policies towards African countries; To submit briefs on the activities of the AU, and of the African Group in Washington D.C.; To inform on a constant basis, American popular opinion about Africa, and about its issues of concern; To provide regular information which influence Congressional decisions and other decision-makers on Africa; To counter when necessary, media distortions of developments and events in Africa; To disseminate information on activities of the AU, and of its Member States; To follow-up activities and programmes of the World Bank and IMF which are of interest and concern to Africa; To assist with procurement for the Commission and other organs; To follow-up on issues relating to NEPAD, CSSDCA, Gender and other cross-cutting programmes;
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To support the African course; To sensitise the communities in the diaspora; To promote a positive image of the AU in the Americas.
4.
Permanent Mission of the African Union to the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) - Brussels
Mandate To develop and maintain constructive and productive institutional relationships between the African Union and the European Union institutions, and the ACP Secretariat as well as to promote a common view within the African Group in international negotiations. Core Functions: To assist in coordinating activities of the African Group to build a political constituency and support for Africa in Europe; To advise Headquarters on strategies for addressing emerging issues at the EU; To monitor matters of concern to Africa in Europe; To assist member states adopt a common position with the EU; To follow-up on AU/EU programmes of cooperation; To assist the Commission prepare for meetings with the EU; To follow-up activities of other international organisations based in Brussels; To follow-up on issues relating to NEPAD; To assist with procurement for the Commission and other organs; To ensure regular consultations with stakeholders; To circulate information on the AU and EU; To facilitate the exchange of information between the AU and the EU; To provide logistical and technical support for the African Group; To assist in liaising with Africans diaspora in Europe.
5.
Mandate To represent the AU to the League of Arab States, foster closer cooperation between the AU and the League in the political, economic, cultural and social fields, as well as update the AU on developments at the League and vice versa. Core Functions: 98
To work towards the development and strengthening of cooperation between the AU and the League of Arab States in the political, economic, cultural and social fields; To forge closer links between the AU and the African diplomatic missions as well as other international organisations in Cairo;
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To produce periodic reports on major issues bearing interests to African countries; To increase the awareness about the AU and its activities to the League of Arab States and the African missions in Cairo; To build a political constituency and support for Africa; To follow-up and monitor political developments of concern to Africa in Arab countries; To follow-up on issues relating to NEPAD; To assist with procurement for the Commission and other organs; To ensure regular consultations with stakeholders; To facilitate the exchange of information between the AU and the League of Arab States; To participate in Africa-related consultations; To coordinate the activities of the African Group; To advise Headquarters on strategies for addressing emerging in the Arab League; To assist Members States for adopting common positions with the League of Arab States; To assist the Commission to prepare for meetings and consultations with the Arab League; To assist in liaising with Africans Diaspora in the Arab world
6.
The AU Southern Africa Regional Office in Lilongwe, Malawi was established in 2001 as a representational office of the AU to develop and maintain constructive and productive relationships between the AU and Members States in the region as well as SADC and COMESA. Core Functions: To represent the AU in the Southern Africa region; To increase awareness about the AU, its mission and its work in the region; To establish working relationships with the Southern Africa region; To monitor political development of concern to African countries in the Southern Africa region; To ensure that Southern Africa activities on refugees, health, immigration and natural disasters receive quick attention from the AU; To support the exchange of info between Southern Africa countries and the AU and ensure regular consultations with the RECs in the region; To counter, when necessary, media distortions about development and events in Southern Africa; To follow up on issues relating to early warning systems in Southern Africa; To deal with issues that foster and promote cohesion, solidarity and unity; To liaise on and harmonise specific policies in geopolitical and socio-economic activities of the AU in the Southern Africa region; To spearhead, initiate and review the AU activities and policies taking into account the constant changing world trends; To promote unity, solidarity and enhance panAfrican spirit in the Southern Africa region; To participate in all other consultations of interest to the AU
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7.
Mandate To monitor, promote and protect human and peoples rights in Member States by developing and maintaining constructive and productive relations between the AU and Member States. Core Functions: To execute the mandate of the Commission by ensuring the promotion, protection and supervision of the observation of human rights in Member States; To develop instruments and rules aimed at promoting human rights in keeping with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; To cooperate with other African and other International Institutions, including non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations, engaged in the promotion of human rights in Africa; To conduct research to appraise and inform decisions; To collect and gather documentation for dissemination to inform discussions; To popularise human and peoples rights instruments and in particular, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights in Member States; To interpret any provisions of the Charter at the request of a Member State; To provide logistical support for meetings; To undertake investigations on complaints on human rights violations; To provide research framework for data collection in order to monitor and track progress on human rights; To provide a monitoring and reporting framework; To provide a regulatory framework for monitoring compliance to instruments entered into with Members States; To ensure availability of information for increased awareness raising on human rights.
Supervision of the sub-Regional offices and projects; Implementation of ascribed priority programmes of the OAU in science and technology for development; Organisation of training courses, seminars, symposia, workshops and technical meetings as approaches
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to implementing its coordination mandate; Publication and distribution of specialised scientific books and documents of original value to Africa; and Servicing the various Inter-African Committees of Experts including the Scientific Council for Africa. Core Functions: To coordinate programmes in applied research especially through the inter-African committees of experts; To identify funding for research projects of interest and training; To promote best practices emanating from scientific and technological development applications; To exchange and disseminate information and research documentation in the field of scientific and technological development; To organise training programmes and exchanges of researchers and specialists; To promote research partnerships and networks; To promote research in all relevant fields; To promote support to member states in the organisation of pilot projects; To develop research data for dissemination; To coordinate the initiation, preparation and the implementation of the programmes and activities of the scientific and technical offices.
2.
Vision
The vision of the emerging IBAR is to be the vehicle for the AU to develop an appropriate and independent expertise in the area of animal health and production for the alleviation of poverty of those involved in livestock farming and food security in member states. Mandate The mandate of IBAR is to provide integrated advisory service and capacity building that will enable Member States of the AU to sustainably improve their animal resources, enhance the nutrition and income of their people and alleviate rural poverty. Core Functions: To coordinate the activities of AU member states in the area of animal health and production; To collect, collate and disseminate information in all aspects of animal health and production among Member States; To initiate and implement projects in the field of animal health and production; To collaborate and cooperate with appropriate member states, intergovernmental, regional and i nternational organisations in matters of animal health and production; To harmonise all international legislative aspects of livestock development; To develop links with reputable universities and regional research institutions; To promote policies on poverty alleviation, emergency and relief interventions, and To promote trade and establish markets in livestock and livestock products.
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3.
Vision
Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (SAFGRAD) Programme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
The vision of SAFGRAD is to accelerate growth of agriculture by promoting the application of more productive technologies friendly to semi-arid environment. Mandate The mandate of SAFGRAD is to contribute to the advancement of agricultural research, technology transfer and marketing as well as the management of natural resources by facilitating and coordinating the use of the scientific talents of National Agricultural Research Center (NARCs), International Agricultural Research Center (IARCs) and Scientific Research Organisations (SROs) to enhance food security, promote sustainable agriculture, development of irrigation agriculture, both in rural and peri-urban areas of the semi-arid zones of Africa. Core Functions: Promotion of food security programme through the development projects; Eradication of poverty by developing programmes commercialisation to generate employment and income; that enhance technical transfer and
Post harvest processing to transfer farm produce into value-added products; Planning and implementing programmes that enhance production and development support services to increase production; The on-farm resource management to facilitate the diffusion of successful production and farm management technology packages that contribute to the sustainable use of resources (nutrient cycling), integration of cereals/legumes in livestock production systems; Technology transfer and commercialisation to facilitate the diffusion of technologies favouring generation of income, creation of employment and food security at the household level among participating countries. The program puts emphasis on the strengthening of women economic capacity and technology commercialisation; Dissemination to farmers and other end-users of technologies to facilitate the development of microenterprises and the generation of employment and income; Development of linkages and partnership between sources of technologies (NARS, IARCs, Universities) and users of technologies (farmers association, NGOs) Documentation of success stories, lessons learned and experiences.
4.
Vision
Inter-African Cameroon
Phytosanitary
Council
(IAPSC),
Yaound,
The vision of a restructured IAPSC in the new African Union is for the office to be the resource and market information centre for Phytosanitary and plant protection activities in Africa. In the quest for food sustainability, it is important for member states to be informed about quarantine pests, which are usually very devastating when introduced into other countries. A revitalised IAPSC will be better able to protect the continent from pest incursions and contribute towards the goal of providing the African people with sufficient food and feed of high quality.
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Mandate The IAPSC is charged with the responsibility of: Preventing the introduction of crop pests and diseases into any part of Africa Controlling and/or eradicating those pests and diseases already in existence in the region; Discouraging and stopping the uncontrolled commercialisation and dissemination of agro pharmaceuticals and chemicals into and within Africa, and Preserving human health that could be exposed to toxic chemical residues used in treating plants.
In addition, the IAPSC should also guide member states on the implications of applying biotechnology for plant protection purposes as well as their implication for food safety. The IAPSC should also actively participate in the capacity of African countries to comply with the requirements of the WTO-SPS Agreement. Core Functions: The core functions include: Development and management of information to serve African and International Plant Protection Organisations (IPPOs); Harmonisation of Phytosanitary regulations in Africa; Development of regional strategies against the introduction and spread of plant pests (insects, plant pathogens, weeds, etc); Promotion of safe and sustainable plant protection techniques, and Training of various cadres of NPPO personnel in Pest Risk Analysis (PRA), Phytosanitary inspection and treatment, field inspection and certification, laboratory diagnoses, pest surveillance and monitoring, etc.
5.
The Centre for Linguistic and Historical Studies by Oral Tradition (CELHTO), Niamey, Niger
Mandate The mission assigned to the Niamey Offices mandate is to go well beyond the collection of oral traditions and the promotion of African languages to include all aspects of African cultures in their richness, diversity and convergences. Core Functions: To undertake sociological studies of African communities; To ensure the development of practical texts in African languages; To produce, protect and conserve recorded, written, photographed or audiovisual reference documents on oral tradition; To ensure the systematic distribution of existing documents; To develop programmes to establish friendly relations between Africa and its diaspora; To develop genuinely African strategies for conflict resolution
6.
The Heads of State and Government of the African Union adopted the Statutes of the African Academy of Lan-
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guages (ACALAN) during their Khartoum, Sudan Summit of 2006. ACALAN is affiliated to the Department of Social Affairs of the African Union Commission and is headquartered in Bamako, Mali. Mission The mission of ACALAN is to foster Africas integration and development through the development and promotion of the use of African languages in all domains of life in Africa. Core Values Respect for the cultural values of Africa, especially African languages on behalf of the African Union; Integration of the African continent for an endogenous development; linguistic and cultural diversity as a factor of Africas integration and the promotion of African values including an encouragement of mutuality and solidarity amongst Africans Objectives: To empower African languages in general and vehicular cross-border languages in particular, in partnership with the languages inherited from colonisation; To promote convivial and functional multilingualism at every level, especially in the education sector; To ensure the development and promotion of African languages as factors of African integration and development, of respect for values and mutual understanding and peace
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Annex 2
Regional Economic Communities
Arab Maghreb Union Algeria, Libya, Maurita- Promote trade and eco- Infrastructure, security and (UMA) nia, nomic cooperation food safety www.maghrebarabe.org Morocco* and Tunisia Common Market for Burundi, Comoros, Attain trade and econom- Trade and investment;
Eastern and Southern Democratic Republic of the ic cooperation; promote trade liberalisation and faAfrica (COMESA) www.comesa.int Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, peace and security in the cilitation; agriculture and Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, region Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe Community of Sahel-Sa- Benin, haran States (CEN-SAD) www.cen-sad.org Central Burkina African food, private sector support, infrastructure, women in business, peace and security, multilateral negotiations and monetary harmonisation Faso, Strengthen peace, secu- Agriculture, industry, enRepub- rity and stability; achieve ergy, trade liberalisation, tion, education and security
lic, Chad, Cote dIvoire, global economic and so- transport and communicaDjibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, cial development Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, and Tunisia
East African Community Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, (EAC) www.eac.int Tanzania and Uganda
Attain socio-economic co- Trade liberalisation, natuoperation, development ral resources manageand integration; maintain ment; peace and security; peace and Security; attain energy, infrastructure, enpolitical federation vironmental management, science and technology
Economic Community of Angola, Burundi, Camer- Achieve collective auton- Peace and security; agriCentral African States oon, Chad, Central Afri- omy and maintain eco- culture, energy coopera(ECCAS) www.ceeac-eccas.org can Republic, Democratic nomic stability; develop tion, natural resources coRepublic of Congo, capacities to maintain operation, tourism, trade
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Regional Economic Communities Equatorial Guinea, Ga- peace and security; attain liberalisation, bon, Republic of Congo, economic and monetary development, Rwanda, So Tom and integration Prncipe Economic (ECOWAS) www.ecowas.int industrial transport Member States Objectives Activities/Programmes
Community Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Attain trade and econom- Trade Cote Bissau,
dIvoire, ic cooperation; promote trade liberalisation and faLiberia, region food, private sector support, infrastructure, women in business, peace and security, multilateral negotiations and monetary harmonisation
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, peace and security in the cilitation; agriculture and Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo
Burkina African
Faso, Achieve
social
Repub- interactions, economic co- monetary affairs; educaand social affairs; energy; environment; trade, food security; security; defence and humanitarian
lic, Chad, Cote dIvoire, operation, integration and tion and training; health Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, shared development Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, and Tunisia
interventions; ICT; infrastructure; rural development; telecommunications; trade; transport and water
Au- Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Attain regional economic Conflict prevention; manKenya, Somalia, Sudan, cooperation and integra- agement and resolution and Uganda tion; promote regional and humanitarian affairs; security and political dia- infrastructure development logue; promote trade and (transport and communicasocial economic develop- tions); food Security and ment and cooperation environment protection
Economic Community of Angola, Burundi, Camer- Achieve collective auton- Peace and security; agriCentral African States oon, Chad, Central Afri- omy and maintain eco- culture, energy coopera(ECCAS) www.ceeac-eccas.org can Republic, Democratic nomic stability; develop tion, natural resources coRepublic of Congo, capacities to maintain operation, tourism, trade
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Regional Economic Communities Southern African De- Angola, Botswana, DRC, Cooperation and integra- PFood, velopment (SADC) www.sadc.int Community Lesotho, agriculture and Member States Objectives Activities/Programmes
Madagascar, tion in the socio economic natural resources; trade, vestment; and services, social and human development infrastructure
Malawi, Mauritius, Mo- arena, as well as political industry, finance and inzambique, Namibia, Sey- development chelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
*Morocco withdrew from the OAU in 1984 when the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was admitted as a member.
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Shivji, I.G. (2008) Pan Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of TanganyikaZanzibar Union, Dar es Salaam, Mkuki na Nyota Publishers
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International
Oxfam Internationals Liaison Office with the African Union TK Building #1, Bole Airport area suite # 406, P. O. Box: 2333 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel.: + 251 11 661 1601, +251 11 661 2493 Fax.: +251 661 2795 E-mail: [email protected]