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Report of the Commission for the Period AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone +251115- 517700 Fax: +251115- 517844 Website: www.africa-union.org EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Twelfth Ordinary Session 27 – 29 January 2008 Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA EX.CL/ 391 (XII) REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE PERIOD JULY TO DECEMBER 2007 EX/CL/391 (XII) Page i INTRODUCTION In my Report of July 2007 and ahead of the Special and historic Summit devoted to the Grand Debate on “Union Government”, I had expressed the conviction that Africa, armed with its immense human and natural resources, could win the war against under-development and poverty, and position itself at a vantage point in 21st Century globalisation. However, this achievement will not be possible unless Africa is united and integrated, and sticks together as it harnesses its vast resources. In taking stock of the five (5) years of existence of the African Union, the 10th Session of the Assembly will have to address two issues of primordial importance: namely, your assessment of the work of the High-Level Panel set up to audit the African Union and the conclusions of the Ministerial Committee on Union Government. These two platforms brought together the Continent’s eminent personalities who endeavoured to reconcile the possible with the desirable, and thus propel us to create better conditions to enable us make significant progress on our journey to African integration, a dream long-nurtured by all the great Pan-Africanists of the last century, from George Padmore to Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. This Report provides an account of the efforts deployed by the Commission during the past six months, a period characterised by intense consultations for implementation of the Accra Declaration of July 2007. The Commission, in this regard, extended all necessary support to the Panel and to the Ministerial Committee, and placed itself in readiness for scrupulous evaluation of its performance in the spirit of total openness, constructive self-criticism and self- assessment. This assistance enabled the two aforementioned committees to come up with conclusions, which if properly implemented, could clearly pave the way for renewed impulse to the integration process and consolidation of African solidarity through harmonious development of an institutional architecture more suited to the needs both of the moment and of the future. I have no doubt that our leaders, in their wisdom, would draw appropriate lessons from these reflections and create for Africa, the conditions necessary to ensure its sustainable development and promote the dignity of Africans in the concert of nations, in a world in full bloom of competition. In this connection, the choice of the theme of this Summit - “Industrial Development of Africa” - comes just at the right time to remind us of the great challenge facing Africa in terms of the absolute need for us to process our vast natural resources, be it agricultural, mineral and energy resources, into finished and semi-finished goods as an effective way of putting an end to exploitation. This, we dare say, will put a stop to the looting of our resources which is compounded by the degradation of our environment in a blatantly unequal and unjust global trade system which keeps our hardworking populations in a state of perpetual under-development and abject poverty, and reduces us to mendicity and dependence on the outside world. This theme is a welcome complement to that of the January 2007 Summit which was “Science and Technology in the Service of Development” which, together with the latter, projects us into a promising future for generations to come. However, we Africans are fully aware of all these challenges and our speeches in this direction have been rich and abundant. Our major problem often resides in our failure to translate these speeches into concrete action, thereby casting doubts on our credibility not only vis-à-vis our own peoples but also in the eyes of our external partners. We have indeed produced and have continued to produce, on the occasion of each Assembly of the Union, lots of Treaties, Charters, Conventions, Resolutions EX/CL/391 (XII) Page ii and Decisions which, in most cases, have never seen any modicum of implementation. It has now become necessary to pause and evaluate, in a responsible and serious manner, the implementation of all our previous decisions before taking fresh ones and afford ourselves adequate resources and reasonable timeframe for progressive materialization of these instruments, as each of them may require. With regard to Treaties in particular, and if our development and integration were to depend on the share number of these instruments, it must be said that Africa has the most impressive arsenal of these legal tools in relation to any other Continent. May we, on this score, recall the numerous Charters and Treaties covering areas as varied as refugees protection (1969); conservation of nature and the environment (1969); promotion of human and peoples’ rights, children and women (1981, 1990 and 2003); combating terrorism (1999); combating corruption (2003); democracy and good governance (2007) to mention but a few. However, how speedily and promptly have we been implementing these precious instruments once they are solemnly adopted and signed by our Member States? This is a critical question which challenges our States. I would like, in this regard, to make a special appeal to Member States to take all appropriate steps to sign, ratify and implement, within the shortest possible time frame, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in January 2007. It has, indeed, become intolerably worrisome that elections that have been increasingly organized regularly and properly in the Continent and have, thereby, laid the foundation for democracy in the service of the people, have for the most part degenerated into violence and devastation in a scenario of power struggle, leading to loss of lives and massive destruction of property. Clear-cut rules need to be put in place to govern elections to enable the people to democratically appropriate the process in conditions of peace and normalcy, without some politicians having to incite them to violence or to suffer as a result of violence. Democracy and governance should, as a matter of fact, be placed at the service of peace, national concord and human rights by all the components of our societies, rather than the other way round. The Charter should be a consensual instrument for management of such processes and should be incorporated into the Peer Review Mechanism. It was for this reason that, in recent months, special emphasis was laid on awareness-raising campaign through regional seminars and other platforms, to enlist ratification of this vital tool. The Commission has continued to deploy efforts in the area of conflict prevention and resolution despite resource constraints. May I point out, in this connection, that the period under review was marked by remarkable progress in the establishment of the Continental Peace and Security Architecture, including the Panel of the Wise, measures to operationalize the Continental Early Warning System, the African Standby Force (ASF) and the finalization of the Draft Cooperation Agreement with regional conflict management mechanisms. I take this opportunity to once again appeal to the ten (10) Member States that are yet to ratify the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to do so as expeditiously as possible and thereby join in the efforts invested by the Continent to enhance the actions of this Council. With respect to infrastructure and energy, the Commission continued with its efforts to secure adoption of an Integrated Continental Transport, Energy, Telecommunications and ICT Master Plan for Africa. On this score, may I mention the outcomes of the Seminar on Biocarbons jointly organized in July 2007 by the EX/CL/391 (XII) Page iii Commission, UNIDO and Brazil - biocarbons which constitute a possible option to reduce dependence on petroleum products and cut down on the energy bill that is becoming increasingly burdensome for African economies. The Commission will exert even more effort to conduct these studies in conjunction with our partners in this area, with a view to fine-tuning these options. Also noteworthy in this field is the tremendous progress achieved in the Pan-African on-line Tele-Education and Tele- Medicine Services Network Project which will be progressively delivered in Member States through 53 VSAT Stations to be installed in 53 hospitals and national universities, respectively, fruit of our cooperation with India. I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Continent, to express our gratitude to India for this facility. As regards the e-Governance project, I am pleased at the current operational state of this tool which, in due course, will ensure full connectivity between the Commission Headquarters, the Regional Offices and the Representational Offices, other Organs of the Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States, thereby improving the all-important day-to-day communication between all these stakeholders of the African Union. With regard to the Commission’s activities in the field of rural economy and agriculture, sustained efforts have been deployed to implement the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Policy (CAADP) and the Sirte Declaration on Agriculture and Water, by taking on board issues of climate change, rational management of land, water control systems, food security and environmental protection. Concerning the economic and commercial sector, I would like to mention the Second Conference of African Integration Ministers whose report has been submitted for consideration by our Leaders. The issue of rationalization of the RECs also requires your attention so that, based on the principle of subsidiary, the Union may, in conjunction with the regions, take appropriate measures to ensure that integration picks up the momentum needed to project Africa into a prime position in the globalisation process, as I indicated earlier on.
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