DOCSLIB.ORG

CHAPTER ONE: Background

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CHAPTER ONE: Background The African Union’s Involvement in Conflict Resolution in Some ECOWAS Countries Master’s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Graduate Program in Global Studies Wellington Nyangoni, Advisor Richard Parmentier, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Global Studies By Esther Chollom Jack February, 2014 Acknowledgement I would like to first of all give glory to God Almighty for enabling me to begin this program and also for seeing me through. Next, I would like to thank my mentors, Elder Bolaji Anani and Barrister Victor Kwon for providing my first semester’s fees. In the same vein, I deeply appreciate my brother-in-law Mr. Haruna Bot Fom and his lovely wife, my elder sister Cecelia Fom for taking care of my second semester fees. May God Almighty repay you immensely for sowing into my life. My gratitude also goes to my advisors Professors Wellington Nyangoni and Richard Parmentier for their wealth of advice and support during the course of the program and even much more during the course of writing this thesis. Sirs, your invaluable support and advice are appreciated. May God bless you with more wisdom and understanding. I would like to say thank you to my teachers; Professors Chandler Rosenberger, Laura Miller, Jefferey Prottas, Ricardo Godoy, David Steel, and Deniz Civril for imparting knowledge into my life. I am a better person today because you were there to teach me. In the same vein, I would like to show appreciation to my international advisor Bonnie Ryle for believing in me. Thank you for the times you took extra steps to make sure I maintained my status at school. Bonnie, you are the best. My appreciation also goes to Rosella Carrelli, Aneil Triparthy and Simone Parker for helping me with the editing of the thesis. I will not forget to mention my educational advisers from the US embassy in Nigeria; Aunty Folashade Adebayo, and Mr. Dalhatu Hamza for guiding me through my school search, applications and travel processes. I also acknowledge my beloved mother Mrs. Saratu Jack for her prayers and encouragement, and my son Abel Jack who has been a great source of inspiration to me. ii Finally, I want to appreciate my pastors Victor Vincent, Amin Zaigi, Jonathan Thani, Gadzama; my friends Motolani Mathew, Kpeburga Binga, Priscilla Songden, Ayodele Sabitu, and my siblings Elisha Chollom Jack, Chundung Jack, Blessing and Grace Monday, and Lydia Wurim for your support, encouragements and prayers throughout this one year of studies. May The Lord enrich your lives in Jesus’ name. iii Abstract The African Union’s Involvement in Conflict Resolution in some ECOWAS countries A thesis presented to the Graduate Program in Global Studies Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts by Esther Chollom Jack The African Union is the largest Pan-African organization that is saddled with the task of uniting the African continent through economic integration in order to create self reliance among its citizens. However, the Union has faced a number of challenges with regards to destructive civil wars that have riddled the continent since the dawn of independence, especially immediately after the cold war of the 1990s. The African Union established a commission for Reconciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but due to certain structural clauses in its charter, the commission was limited in its role. So, as the watch dog of the African nation, the Union established Regional Economic Communities (RECs), one of which is the Economic Community of West African States, and mandated them to find the means of resolving conflicts within their regions. This is based on the understanding that the RECs understand their terrains better than external parties. ECOWAS became the first REC to launch a forced intervention through its military arm, the ECOMOG, first in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and subsequently in the rest of the region. The organization faced a number of challenges while executing its mandate. These include the lack of unity among the intervening forces and the lack of funding to provide logistics needed to execute its missions successfully. These notwithstanding, the ECOWAS forces received reinforcements from the United Nations and the British army under the Palliser iv program, which helped to calm the situations in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the rest of the region. Subsequently, fruitful negotiations were initiated and peace accords were signed by the warring parties to end the conflicts. Although there is relative peace in the ECOWAS region today, this study was carried out in order to find means of attaining lasting and sustainable peace and stability so that meaningful developmental activities can take place in the region. v Table of Contents Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………...ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………....vi List of Abbreviations/Acronyms………………………………………………………………....ix CHAPTER ONE: Background 1.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………2 1.1 Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………………...2 1.2 Research Question…………………………………………………………………….3 1.3 Objectives of the study………………………………………………………………..3 1.4 The Significance of the study……..…………………………………………….…….3 1.5 The Scope of the study…………………..……………………………………….…...4 1.6 Limitations of the study………………………………………………………………4 1.7 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………….5 1.8 The Itinerary………………………………………………………………………….6 CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review 2.0 An Overview of West Africa.......…………………………………………………………….8 2.1 The Emergence of Pan-Africanism…………………………………………………..9 vi 2.2 The Establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the African Union (AU)……………………………………………….………………………….12 2.3 Regional Integration in West Africa………………………………………………....21 2.3.1 The Processes of Regional integration….................................................24 2.4 The Establishment of ECOWAS……………………………………………………24 2.4.1 Economic Integration in ECOWAS....…………………………………..26 2.4.2 ECOWAS Macroeconomic Integration………………………………….29 CHAPTER THREE: Conflicts and Conflict Resolutions in ECOWAS 3.0 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….………….32 3.1 Nature and Goals of Conflicts………………………………………………………..33 3.2 Causes and Types of Conflicts……………………………………………………….35 3.3 Theories of Conflict Resolution……………………………………………………...37 3.3.1 The Needs-based Theory….…………………...……………………...…37 3.3.2 The Interest-based Theory……………………………………………….38 3.3.3 The Theory of Conflict Transformation…………………………………39 3.3.4 The Power-based and Rights-based Theories……………………………39 3.3.5 The Types of Conflict Resolution Mechanisms…………...……………..41 3.4 The ECOWAS Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution………………………………..42 3.5 Analysis of the Conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone……………………………….46 3.6 An analysis of the Conflict in French Guinea………………………………………..54 3.7 An Analysis of the Conflict in Cote d’Ivoire………………………………………...56 3.8 An Analysis of the Conflict in Guinea-Bissau……………………………………….59 vii 3.9 The Impacts of the Conflict on the Region…………………………………………..64 3.10 The Roles of the AU/ECOWAS in the Resolutions of the Conflicts……………65 CHAPTER FOUR: The impact of ECOWAS Humanitarian Intervention in the warring countries 4.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...70 4.1 The Concept of Humanitarian Intervention………………………………………....71 4.2 The Concept of National Sovereignty…………………………………………….…73 4.3 The Concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P)……………………………….…….74 4.4 The Impact of Humanitarian Intervention in the ECOWAS Region………………...75 4.5 ECOWAS Justification for the Intervention ……….………………………………..77 4.6 The Successes of the Humanitarian Intervention by ECOWAS……………………..79 4.7 The Failure of Some of the Humanitarian Mission..…………...…………………....80 4.8 The Challenges of Humanitarian Intervention/Conflict Resolution in the ECOWAS Region………………………………………………………………………………..82 4.9 Summary/Conclusion……………………………………………………………..…85 4.10 Recommendation………………..………………………………………………87 References/Bibliography……………………………………………...…………………90 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS OAU Organization of African Unity AU African Union ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ECOMOG ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group RUF Revolutionary United Front NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia UN United Nations UNIA Universal Negro Improvement Association ACL African Community League CIS Community of Independent States UAS Union of African States USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republic PAFMECA Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa EU European Union ix CAAU Constitutive Act of African Union PSC Peace and Security Council REC Regional Economic Council AMU Maghreb Union COMESA Common Market for Eastern CEN-SAD Southern Africa Community of Sahel-Saharan States EAC East African Community ECCAS Economic Community of Central African States IGAD Intergovernmental Authority for Development SADC Southern African Development Community MARIUN Mano River Union FTA Free Trade Area CET Common External Tariff MU Monetary Union UEMOA Union Economique Monitaire Ouest d’Africain FCCD Fund for Cooperation, Compensation, and Development x TLS Trade Liberalization Schemes EBID ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development SMC Standing Mediation Committee ICJ International Court of Justice ICC International Criminal Court AAFC Allied Armed Forces of the Community ANAD Agression et d’Assistance en matiere de Defense MAD Mutual Defense Assistance
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mass Slavery Apology FACING OUR
    SLAVERY & ITS LEGACY: Mass Slavery Apology FACING OUR UNHEALED PAST With Hope for Transformation, Justice, & Reconciliation We hope you will share this booklet with others. www.racialjusticerising.org [email protected] Mass Slavery Apology (A) nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. Both colonizer and colonized are dehumanized, ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam, 1967 albeit in different and very distinctive ways, within a culture of domination. Therefore if domination is to end, there must be personal transformation on both sides. ~ bell hooks If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. ~ Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, Australia, 1970s [We see a need] to transform the thinking that All truth passes through three stages: spawned racism, namely the appetite for material First it is ridiculed. power and luxury in the Western nations, and the Second it is violently opposed. consequent reduction of human beings to the status of objects to be bought, sold, easily Third it is accepted as being self- demeaned and killed for profit, denying the evident. profound and noble spiritual nature of all people. ~ Schopenhauer ~ Ingrid Askew and Sister Clare Carter, co-founders, Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage: Re-tracing the Journey of Slavery, 1999 Dear Readers, We invite you to join us in a very special project. We are a small group, all white, who, with guidance from African TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just American and Native American activists/educators, have foolishly romantic.
    [Show full text]
  • Kwame Nkrumah and the Pan- African Vision: Between Acceptance and Rebuttal
    Austral: Brazilian Journal of Strategy & International Relations e-ISSN 2238-6912 | ISSN 2238-6262| v.5, n.9, Jan./Jun. 2016 | p.141-164 KWAME NKRUMAH AND THE PAN- AFRICAN VISION: BETWEEN ACCEPTANCE AND REBUTTAL Henry Kam Kah1 Introduction The Pan-African vision of a United of States of Africa was and is still being expressed (dis)similarly by Africans on the continent and those of Afri- can descent scattered all over the world. Its humble origins and spread is at- tributed to several people based on their experiences over time. Among some of the advocates were Henry Sylvester Williams, Marcus Garvey and George Padmore of the diaspora and Peter Abrahams, Jomo Kenyatta, Sekou Toure, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah of South Africa, Kenya, Guinea, Tanza- nia and Ghana respectively. The different pan-African views on the African continent notwithstanding, Kwame Nkrumah is arguably in a class of his own and perhaps comparable only to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. Pan-Africanism became the cornerstone of his struggle for the independence of Ghana, other African countries and the political unity of the continent. To transform this vision into reality, Nkrumah mobilised the Ghanaian masses through a pop- ular appeal. Apart from his eloquent speeches, he also engaged in persuasive writings. These writings have survived him and are as appealing today as they were in the past. Kwame Nkrumah ceased every opportunity to persuasively articulate for a Union Government for all of Africa. Due to his unswerving vision for a Union Government for Africa, the visionary Kwame Nkrumah created a microcosm of African Union through the Ghana-Guinea and then Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality
    Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Theses and Dissertations 3-22-2019 Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality Emmanuella Amoh Illinois State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the African History Commons Recommended Citation Amoh, Emmanuella, "Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 1067. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/1067 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. KWAME NKRUMAH, HIS AFRO-AMERICAN NETWORK AND THE PURSUIT OF AN AFRICAN PERSONALITY EMMANUELLA AMOH 105 Pages This thesis explores the pursuit of a new African personality in post-colonial Ghana by President Nkrumah and his African American network. I argue that Nkrumah’s engagement with African Americans in the pursuit of an African Personality transformed diaspora relations with Africa. It also seeks to explore Black women in this transnational history. Women are not perceived to be as mobile as men in transnationalism thereby underscoring their inputs in the construction of certain historical events. But through examining the lived experiences of Shirley Graham Du Bois and to an extent Maya Angelou and Pauli Murray in Ghana, the African American woman’s role in the building of Nkrumah’s Ghana will be explored in this thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Mama Anditu Siwatu
    Issue #33, May 2004: his time of year holds great significance for murder three years later, but also could have changed the United Afrikan-centered activists and revolutionar- States that might have prevented many of the unfortunate events Ties, as it includes the 36th-year commemora- of the last 30-plus years. tion of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin We chose ten issues on which Dr. King and Malcolm X Luther King, Jr. (April 4th) and the 79th birthday expressed their views regarding the situation of Afrikan people of Malcolm X (May 19th). As contemporaries, in America and the struggle of the world’s peoples against their interaction was often an intense one, since they oppression. We examine quotes from both men to demonstrate seemed to disagree on issues from non-violence to the differences but also the increasing similarities in their views. integration to spirituality. We end with quotes from them concerning their relationship to But did they, really? each other, and finally their thoughts as And did their disagree- their time on earth grew short. ments remain static or BLACK UNITY did they start to “come together” with time? In the last two years of Malcolm’s life, he We contend that their began to support coalitions with organi- views did indeed begin zations and individuals, including Dr. to converge as the years King and the NAACP, which he had once went by. We also be- considered weak in their commitment to lieve that, had Malcolm Afrikan liberation. Most of these quotes X not been cut down on come from late in Malcolm’s short life.
    [Show full text]
  • Kwame Nkrumah and the Proposed African Common Government
    African Journal of Political Science and International Relations Vol. 5(4), pp. 218-228, April 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpsir ISSN 1996-0832 ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Kwame Nkrumah and the proposed African common government Aremu Johnson Olaosebikan Department of History and International Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ado- Ekiti, P. M. B. 5363, ado- Ekiti, Nigeria. Email: [email protected]:+2348032477652. Accepted 17 January, 2011 Between 1957 and 1966, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana fought vigorously for the creation of a Union of African States with a Common African Government. His optimism for the unity and cohesion of Africa as a lever for continental development was unparalleled. However, his dream never became a reality due to stiff opposition from African leaders, most of whom feared the loss of their sovereignty, and the West, due to selfish interest. This notwithstanding, this paper posits that Nkrumah’s mooted idea of unity government is still the best option if Africa will be able to overcome her precarious socio- economic and political tragedies of intermittent wars and conflicts, poverty and exploitation of her natural resources by the West; even in the face of daunting challenges. The paper concludes that only a union government could enable Africa to compete favourably with other political and economic blocs in this age of globalization and continental integration process going on in various other continents of the world. Key words: Integration, cohesion, Pan-Africanism, unification, development INTRODUCTION A lasting positive legacy left by Kwame Nkrumah of with the Pan- African Congresses held between 1919 and Ghana for African development is his vision for a 1945 (Aremu, 2007: 13).
    [Show full text]
  • 1. INTRODUCTION “ Unless Something New and Radical Is Done
    1. INTRODUCTION “ Unless something new and radical is done, Africa will not achieve the International Development Goals (IDGs) and the 7% annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate” 1 The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is not only the newest and most fashionable game on the African continent, but also the latest in the efforts by African political leaders to deal collectively with the countless national, regional and continental political, socioeconomic problems and development challenges facing the continent. As much as a growing number of African political leaders enter the arena to declare their commitment to the agenda of Africa’s economic upliftment in the new millennium, there is very little civil society understanding of and support for a continental project such as NEPAD. The absence of meaningful and organic participation by civil society is the most vexatious of all the concerns that could mar the otherwise commendable vision of African sustainable development that NEPAD invokes. It is this absence of participation by civil society in the lives of their communities that has led to the failure of most commendable projects undertaken by African leaders since the early days of independence. In the words of the NEPAD document, what is now known as NEPAD is a merger of the Millennium Partnership for Africa’s Recovery Programme (MAP) and the Omega Plan. This was finalised into a new document and framework called the New Africa Initiative, (NAI) on 3 July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. The NAI was then approved by OAU Summit Heads of State and Government on 11 July 2001 (Declaration 1 (XXXVII)).
    [Show full text]
  • The African Union in Light of the Arab Revolts an Appraisal of the Foreign Policy and Security Objectives of South Africa, Ethiopia and Algeria
    discussion paper 76 The fall of authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya has changed political dynamics on the African continent. One immediate concern has been the implications of these developments for the African Union (AU) and its member states. Would overall political dynamics in the AU be changed? Would the most powerful member states use the altered circumstances to enhance their influence on AU policies and frameworks? What would the impact be for the AU’s overall authority? In this Discussion Paper series, three edited papers are presented that tackle AU political and institutional dynamics in light of the Arab revolts. A particular puzzle addressed is the current postures of South Africa, Ethiopia and Algeria within the AU. A separate analysis of Nigeria’s role was published earlier in the NAI-FOI Lecture Series on African Security. The work in this discussion series reflects the longstanding collaboration between the Swedish Defence Research Agency’s Project Studies in African Security and the Nordic Africa Institute to build Africa-related research capacity on peace and security. MIKAEL ERIKSSON currently works at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, where he undertakes research on global security issues as a team-member of the Project on Studies in African Security. His book, co-edited with Roland Kosti´c, Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding: Peace from the Ashes of War? was published in Routledge’s Intervention and Statebuilding series in 2013. LINNÉA GELOT is a researcher with the Nordic Africa Institute and a senior lecturer at the School of Global The African union Studies, University of Gothenburg.
    [Show full text]
  • Towards a Union Government for Africa
    TOWARDS A UNION GOVERNMENT FOR AFRICA CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES EDITED BY TIMOTHY MURITHI ISS MONOGRAPH SERIES • No 140, JANUARY 2008 CONTENTS PreFACE v Kenneth Mpyisi, Institute for Security Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ACKnoWLEDgemenTS vii ABOUT The AUThors viii ABBreViaTions anD ACronYms x ChapTer 1 1 Introduction: Contextualising the debate on a Union Government for Africa Dr Tim Murithi, Institute for Security Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia PART ONE 11 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR A UNION GOVERNMENT FOR AFRICA ChapTer 2 13 Portrayal of a possible path to a single government for Africa Dr Admore Kambudzi, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ChapTer 3 29 The challenges of accelerating economic and political integration in the formation of a Union Government The late Professor Kinfe Abraham, Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia PART TWO 43 ENGAGING WITH THE ACCRA DECLARATION ChapTer 4 45 Reflections on the 2007 Accra Grand Debate on a Union Government for Africa Delphine Lecoutre, Independent Consultant, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ii Towards a Union Government for Africa: Challenges and Opportunities ChapTer 5 61 The relationship between states and an African Union Government Professor Ismail Fall, University of Dakar, Senegal ChapTer 6 69 Rationalising regional economic communities and implementing the treaty establishing the African Economic Community: The role of parliaments Marilyn Aniwa, Parliamentary Centre, Accra, Ghana ChapTer 7 79 Identifying the domains of competence
    [Show full text]
  • NKRUMAH, Kwame
    Howard University Digital Howard @ Howard University Manuscript Division Finding Aids Finding Aids 10-1-2015 NKRUMAH, Kwame MSRC Staff Follow this and additional works at: https://dh.howard.edu/finaid_manu Recommended Citation Staff, MSRC, "NKRUMAH, Kwame" (2015). Manuscript Division Finding Aids. 149. https://dh.howard.edu/finaid_manu/149 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Finding Aids at Digital Howard @ Howard University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Manuscript Division Finding Aids by an authorized administrator of Digital Howard @ Howard University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 BIOGRAPHICAL DATA Kwame Nkrumah 1909 September 21 Born to Kobina Nkrumah and Kweku Nyaniba in Nkroful, Gold Coast 1930 Completed four year teachers' course at Achimota College, Accra 1930-1935 Taught at Catholic schools in the Gold Coast 1939 Received B.A. degree in economics and sociology from Lincoln University, Oxford, Pennsylvania. Served as President of the African Students' Association of America and Canada while enrolled 1939-1943 Taught history and African languages at Lincoln University 1942 Received S.T.B. [Bachelor of Theology degree] from Lincoln Theological Seminary 1942 Received M.S. degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania 1943 Received A.M. degree in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania 1945-1947 Lived in London. Attended London School of Economics for one semester. Became active in pan-Africanist politics 1947 Returned to Gold Coast and became General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention 1949 Founded the Convention Peoples' Party (C.P.P.) 2 1949 Publication of What I Mean by Positive Action 1950-1951 Imprisoned on charge of sedition and of fomenting an illegal general strike 1951 February Elected Leader of Government Business of the Gold Coast 1951 Awarded Honorary LL.D.
    [Show full text]
  • 18. Transnational Democracy in Africa and the African Union's Agenda 2063
    TRANSNATIONAL DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN UNION’S AGENDA 2063: BEYOND NKRUMAH’S HAPTER PAN-AFRICANIST PUSHBACKS C 18 Chairman Okoloise Abstract Some six decades ago, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah led the struggle for the ‘total liberation of the African continent’ and echoed the idea of a United States of Africa. He formed the Union of African States in 1958 until the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 – one apparatus through which Nkrumah hoped to bring his Pan-African dream alive. However, his idea of a continental state mainly focused on Africa’s political liberation; he did not anticipate the magnitude of the unique dynamics that would prevent the continent from attaining that noble objective more than fifty years after. This fallout led to the establishment of the Africa Union (AU), a successor to the OAU in 2000, to surpass the pushbacks of the OAU’s mandate. The AU’s mandate is to fast-track Africa’s political and economic integration. To this end, the AU has developed a fifty year plan – Agenda 2063 – through which it aspires to attain its Pan-African vision of a transnational democratic state by 2063. This chapter therefore analyses the viability of a transnational democratic state in Africa by 2063 and how to avoid the same resentment that befell Nkrumah’s Pan-African agenda. It conceptualises transnational democracy in Africa within the context of Agenda 2063, African instruments (on democracy, elections, governance, human rights, peace and security), and the contemporary challenges confronting African statehood. Finally, it articulates a practicable marshalling and more realistic paradigm for attaining the AU’s lofty aspirations of a transnational democracy by 2063.
    [Show full text]
  • Concept Note
    AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P.O. Box 3243 Telephone: +251-115-517 700 Fax: +251-115517844 Website: www.africa-union.org 4TH FORUM OF THE AFRICAN UNION ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND AFRICAN UNION LAW 19-20 October 2015 Cairo, Egypt Original: French CONCEPT NOTE Theme: “The challenges of ratification and implementation of treaties in Africa” By: Justice Kholisani SOLO (President), Prof. Hajer GUELDICH (Rapporteur) Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1. The African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL) was established in 2009 as an independent legal advisory body to contribute to the codification and progressive development of International Law on the African continent. It was established at a time when the African continent was in the process of strengthening its commitment to the world and focus more on the role of law, particularly international law, in order to address the problems facing it, more generally, just like the international community. 2. To this end, AUCIL has established a forum on International Law and African Union Law, of which the objective is to bring together Researchers, Legal Experts and Practitioners of the continent in the light of International Law and African Union Law. THEME 3. The theme for the fourth edition of the AUCIL Forum is: “The challenges of ratification and implementation of treaties in Africa” FORUM VENUE 4. The Forum will take place in Cairo, Egypt. Hotel Conrad Cairo, 1191 Corniche el Nil, Cairo, 11221, Egypt, t. +20.2.25808065, f. +20.2.25808101, website: http://www.ar.hilton.com/en/hotel/ConradCairo?WT.mc_id=zELWAKN0EMEA1CI2DMH3 LocalSearch4DGGenericx6CAICICI For room reservation the hotel should be contacted at: [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    HAS THE PAST PASSED? ON THE ROLE OF HISTORIC MEMORY IN SHAPING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS AND CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN MIGRANTS IN THE USA • DMITRI M. BONDARENKO • ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... African Americans and contemporary African migrants to the USA do not form a single ‘Black community’. Their relations are characterized by simultaneous mutual attraction and repulsion. Based on field evidence, the article discusses the role played in it by the reflection in historic memory and place in mass consciousness of African Americans and African migrants of key events in Black American and African history: transatlantic slave trade, slavery, its abolition, and the Civil Rights Movement in the US, colonialism, anticolonial struggle, and the fall of apartheid regime in South Africa. It is shown that they see the key events of the past differently, and different events are seen as key by each group. Collective historic memory works more in the direction of separating the two groups from each other by generating and supporting contradictory or even negative images of mutual perception. ............................................................................................................................................... Keywords: African Americans, African migrants, USA, historic memory, intercultural interaction, mass consciousness Introduction1 In the 17th–19th centuries, in most countries of the New
    [Show full text]