African Union


African Union

From 1999 through 2002, the old Organization of African Unity (OAU) was disbanded and replaced by the African Union (AU).  While the OAU had largely succeeded in throwing off European colonialism and establishing independent African nations on the Continent, the further task of uniting them into a Continental Union Government was not accomplished.  It was determined by the heads of state that a new continental arrangement was needed to unify and economically lift up the African continent.  The following comes from the African Union’s Web page About the African Union | African Union (au.int):

About the African Union

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999).

History:

In May 1963, 32 Heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to sign the Charter creating Africa’s first post-independence continental institution, The Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The OAU was the manifestation of the pan-African vision for an Africa that was united, free and in control of its own destiny and this was solemnised in the OAU Charter in which the founding fathers recognised that freedom, equality, justice and dignity were essential objectives for the achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples and that there was a need to promote understanding among Africa’s peoples and foster cooperation among African states in response to the aspirations of Africans for brother-hood and solidarity, in a larger unity transcending ethnic and national Differences. The guiding philosophy was that of Pan-Africanism which centred on African socialism and promoted African unity, the communal characteristic and practices of African communities, and a drive to embrace Africa’s culture and common heritage

The main objectives of the OAU were to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity amongst African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation. The OAU Charter spelled out the purpose of the Organisation namely:

    • To promote the unity and solidarity of the African States;
    • To coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa;
    • To defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and independence;
    • To eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa; and
    • To promote international cooperation, having due regard to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Through the OAU Coordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa, the Continent worked and spoke as one with undivided determination in forging an international consensus in support of the liberation struggle and the fight against apartheid. The OAU had provided an effective forum that enabled all Member States to adopt coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent in international fora and defend the interests of Africa effectively.

On 9.9.1999, the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) issued the Sirte Declaration calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable Africa to play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they were by certain negative aspects of globalisation.

The launch of the African Union:

The African Union (AU) was officially launched in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, following a decision in September 1999 by its predecessor, the OAU to create a new continental organisation to build on its work. The decision to re-launch Africa’s pan-African organisation was the outcome of a consensus by African leaders that in order to realise Africa’s potential, there was a need to refocus attention from the fight for decolonisation and ridding the continent of apartheid, which had been the focus of the OAU, towards increased cooperation and integration of African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development.

The AU is guided by its vision of “An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”

The Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union lay out the aims of the AU which are:

    • Achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and their the people
    • Defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States;
    • Accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;
    • Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples;
    • Encourage international cooperation
    • Promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;
    • Promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;
    • Promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments;
    • Establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;
    • Promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies;
    • Promote cooperation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples;
      Coordinate and harmonise the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;
    • Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology
    • Work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent.
    • Ensure the effective participation of women in decision-making, particularly in the political, economic and socio-cultural areas;
    • Develop and promote common policies on trade, defence and foreign relations to ensure the defence of the Continent and the strengthening of its negotiating positions;
    • Invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African Union.

The work of the AU is implemented through several principal decision making organs:- The Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), Specialised Technical Committees (STCs), the Peace and Security Council and The African Union Commission. The AU structure promotes participation of African citizens and civil society through the Pan-African Parliament and the Economic, Social & Cultural Council (ECOSOCC).

Organs that handle judicial and legal matters as well as human rights issues include:- African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), AU Commission on International Law (AUCIL), AU Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC) and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The AU is also working towards the establishment of continental financial institutions (The African Central Bank, The African Investment Bank and the African Monetary Fund)

The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Peer Review Mechanism are also key bodies that that constitute the structure of the African Union.

To ensure the realisation of its objectives and the attainment of the Pan African Vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, Agenda 2063 was developed as a strategic framework for Africa’s long term socio-economic and integrative transformation. Agenda 2063 calls for greater collaboration and support for African led initiatives to ensure the achievement of the aspirations of African people.

The last bullet point above, “Invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African Union”, is of special interest to us.  In 2003, the African Union appeared to be making a concerted push to implement that last item when it announced an addition to its Constitutive Act, known as Article 3(q), which was set forth in the Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union, Adopted by the 1st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 3 February 2003, and by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003; available on the Web at 35423-treaty-0025_-_protocol_on_the_amendments_to_the_constitutive_act_of_the_african_union_e.pdf (au.int):

The Member States of the African Union States Parties to the Constitutive Act of the African Union HAVE AGREED TO ADOPT AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTIVE ACR AS FOLLOWS: …

In Article 3 of the Act (Objectives), the insertion of three new subparagraphs (i), (p) and (q) with consequential renumbering of subparagraphs:

The objectives of the Union shall be to: …….

(i) ensure the effective participation of women in decision-making, particularly in the political, economic and socio-cultural areas; …….

(p) develop and promote common policies on trade, defence and foreign relations to ensure the defence of the Continent and the strengthening of its negotiating positions;

invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African Union.

Some critics have insisted that the “African Diaspora” was never meant to include African Descendants of those who were enslaved hundreds of years ago (specifically African Americans, though a similar argument was likely used in an effort to exclude African-Canadians, African-Brazilians, African-Latinos, African-Caribbeans and African-Europeans), and was only meant to include recent immigrants to Europe and The Americas, who usually retained citizenship in their countries of origin and sent regular remittances back home.  This assessment is directly contradicted by the African Union’s Web site, particularly the section describing the African Union Diaspora Division (The Diaspora Division | African Union (au.int)):

The Diaspora Division serves as the focal point and hub for implementing the African Union decision to invite and encourage the African Diaspora to participate in the building and development of the African continent. Its main task therefore, is to serve as a catalyst for rebuilding the global African family in the service of the development and integration agenda of the continent.

The division is under the Directorate Office of the department and takes directives and instructions from the Directorate Office.

The main constituents of the Diaspora Division are the African Diaspora. The African Union defines the African Diaspora as “Consisting of people of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.” Its constitutive act declares that it shall “invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our continent, in the building of the African Union.”

Within this context, the Diaspora Division serves as the counterpart of the Civil Society Division for the diaspora. As such, it carries out responsibilities that its counterpart performs for civil society for the African Diaspora.

Core Responsibilities of the Division

    • Mainstreaming Diaspora participation in the African Union agenda across departments, partnership frameworks and the wide range of policy activity including the flagship Agenda 2063.

    • Strengthening the operational capacity of the African Union to support Diaspora involvement in AU activities through regular communication and flow of information on AU events and activities and vice-visa, cross-fertilization of AU program with Diaspora activities and mapping of African Diaspora around the world.

    • Serving as focal point for accreditation of Diaspora organizations and networks as observers, delegates and participants at AU Summit and other meetings.

    • Managing and coordinating other forms of interaction between the AU and Diaspora organizations worldwide. This includes collaboration on policy and advocacy efforts of Diaspora networks and coalitions, technical support and assistance, enabling framework of cooperation and working relations.

    • Enabling participation of Diaspora in CSO pre- Summit forums and promoting effective collaboration between Diaspora Civil Society Organization and approximate bodies on the continent.

    • Promoting of effective linkages between the Diaspora and various organs of the union including, ECOSOCC, PSC and Pan African Parliament (PAP) among others.

    • Interfacing the African Diaspora with the work of different departments of the AU Commission and their programs and efforts.

The program of activities are however, adapted to the context in which the program for Diaspora participation in AU activities of the Diaspora Division developed within the context of the protocol on the amendment to the Constitutive Act of 2003.

That contention was also contradicted many years ago, at the inception of the African Union Initiative.  At the October 21-22, 2010 Annual Diaspora Consultation with Formations and Communities in North America in New York, a presentation (Speech Dr Adisa AU Diaspora Meeting NY 21-22 Oct 2010 Wuyi) on The African Union Diaspora Initiative was given by the then-Director of the African Union Commission’s Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO), Dr. Jinmi Adisa, who explained the importance of encouraging the Diaspora’s participation in the African Union, as well as the understanding that the Diaspora was understood as comprising both Continental Africans who emigrated West and the descendants of enslaved Africans from the Transatlantic Slave Trade or Ma’afa:

… The OAU was focused largely on political leaders. However, the Constitutive Act as the new fundamental law of the Union recognized that the requirement of development must be premised on active and total mobilization of all relevant forces in society. Hence, the Act is specific that the Union will be people-centred, people-driven and people-oriented, based on a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society, particularly youth, women and children. This vision of a developmental Commonwealth in the African Union has two logical corollaries. First, it implied a need to go beyond governments and representatives of states to incorporate the energies of African people in their different professional and other works of life. The Citizens and Diaspora Directorate of the AU Commission (CIDO) and the Economic, Social and Cultural Council were created and given specific responsibilities to seek and harness the contributions of all these non-state actors to the efforts of the Commonwealth. Second and significantly, the people-centred aspiration highlighted the fact that a significant part of the African population that reside outside the shores of the continent either through slave trade or successive waves of migration including the ancient and modern, would be part of the new African Union system. There was a clear recognition and acceptance among policy actors that these Africans are part of the broader African population and Africa cannot be whole again or achieve its development and political objective except through a process that enables the integration of its Diaspora and permits their wholesome and active participation in the process of African reconstruction and development.

Soon after the launching of the African Union in Durban, South Africa in 2002 therefore, the Assembly of Heads of States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to establish, among other things, a legal framework that would create the necessary and sufficient conditions for putting this decision into effect. Hence, it adopted the Protocol on the Amendment to the Constitutive Act of the Union which in Article 3 (q) invited the African Diaspora to participate fully as an important component in the building of the African Union. In adopting the decision, the Protocol symbolically recognized the Diaspora as an important and separate but related constituency outside the five established regions of Africa – East, West, Central North and South. Thus although there is no specific legal or political text that states this categorically, it, in effect, created a symbolic sixth region of Africa.

The initial destination of the African Diaspora within the African Union was determined to be the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), the Statutes of which (94adc1_964c84ec5ab84014adf2210cfee6aa7c.pdf (filesusr.com)) spell out the number of Representatives of “Civil Society Organizations” (“CSOs”) from the Diaspora that are slated to assume seats as well as general standards by which those Representatives are to be determined:

Article 4
Membership
1. ECOSOCC shall be composed of one hundred and fifty (150) CSOs which shall include different social and professional groups in Member States of the Union and the African Diaspora, in conformity with Article 5 of these
Statutes:
a) Two (2) CSOs from each Member State of the Union;
b) Ten (10) CSOs operating at regional level and eight (8) at continental level;
c) Twenty (20) CSOs from the African Diaspora as defined by the Executive Council, covering the various continents of the world (emphasis added);
d) Six (6) CSOs, in ex-officio capacity, nominated by the Commission based on special considerations, in consultation with Member States …

Article 5
Election of Members
1. Competent CSO authorities in each Member State shall establish a consultation process, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of these Statutes, for the purpose of determining modalities for election, of two (2) CSOs to the ECOSOCC General Assembly;
2. Regional and continental CSOs shall establish an appropriate consultative process to determine modalities for election, and elect eighteen (18) CSOs to the ECOSOCC General Assembly.
3. African Diaspora organizations shall establish an appropriate process for determining modalities for elections and elect twenty (20) CSOs to the ECOSOCC General Assembly (emphasis added) …

Further, if the collaboration between ECOSOCC and Diaspora activists proved fruitful, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) would be a follow-up destination for the voices of the Diaspora.

The fact that Article 3(q) was not, in the end, ratified by the African Union Member States and the 20 CSOs from the Diaspora have not, as of this writing, been elected to participate in the ECOSOCC General Assembly has led to much debate among Africans in the Diaspora about the intent of the ECOSOCC Statutes in the first place.  Some have maintained that this situation persists because the African Union is specifically established as an organization of the Member States and thus stateless actors have no voice there, and were never intended to have a voice.  This is contradicted by the fact that even a large percentage of the African Member States have not, as of this writing, arranged or held elections of CSO Representatives to take their places in the ECOSOCC General Assembly either.  According to Article 5, there should be two (2) CSO Representatives from each Member State, for a total of 106 at the time of the writing of the Statutes (there were 53 Member States at that time; since then, South Sudan gained independence and Morocco has officially joined, which would actually lead to 110), plus 18 regional and continental CSOs, and six (6) who are nominated by the Commission, for a total of 130 (updated to 134 with the addition of South Sudan and Morocco).  The 20 CSOs from the Diaspora would make a total of 150-154 Representatives.  Rather, it seems that the reason for the failure to ratify Article 3(q) and set the process of election of Representatives in motion up to this point stems from issues of mission creep, organizational failure, habits of bureaucracy and, perhaps, narrow self-interest on the part of those Member States who wish to prevent the inclusion of the Diaspora and other civil-society groups.  This level of indecision, gridlock or ambivalence toward admitting the Diaspora has, in turn, led to a great deal of discouragement among Diaspora activists, leading some to believe that the African Union is an unreliable partner and that, as a result, Diaspora activists should look elsewhere for opportunities to take our voice to the World Stage for the uplift of Africa and her Scattered Black Children.

We continue to hope, as one administration in ECOSOCC gives way to another and as connections with the Pan African Parliament are made and strengthened, the political will might express itself to move ratification of Article 3(q) forward and operationalize the ECOSOCC Statutes, and organizations in the Diaspora will feel encouraged to redouble our efforts to move the process forward for the benefit of the Continent and the Diaspora.

 

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