AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, Ethiopia P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 5517 700 Fax: 5517844 Website: www. Africa-union.org EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Seventeenth Ordinary Session 19 - 23 July 2010 Kampala, Uganda EX. CL/579 (XVII) REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION COVERING THE PERIOD JANUARY TO JUNE 2010 EX. CL/579 (XVII) Page- a Page FOREWORD i I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 II. PEACE AND SECURITY 10 III. REGIONAL INTEGRATION, DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION 40 III.1 Integration and Human Capital Development 40 1. Education 40 2. Science & Technology and ICT 42 3. Health and Sanitation 44 4. Human and Social Welfare 44 5. Children, Youth and Sport 48 III.2 Integration and Development of Interconnectivity 51 1. Transport 51 2. Energy 53 3. Telecommunications, Posts and ICT 57 4. Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) 58 5. Institutional Architecture for Infrastructure Development in Africa (IAIDA) 59 6. European Union – Africa Infrastructure Partnership 59 III.3 Integration and Development of Financial Market and Assets 60 1. Economic and Financial Crisis: Have G20 Commitments to Africa been Honoured? 60 III.4 Integration and Development of production capacities 62 1. Agriculture (CAADP, Food crisis) 62 2. Industrial and Mining Development 66 EX. CL/579(XVII) Page- b Page III.5 Integration and Trade capacity building 67 1. Instruments for Intra-African Trade 67 2. Multilateral Trade Rules Negotiations (EPA,WTO) 69 III.6 Role of all Actors in Strengthening the Integration Process (Public Sector, Private Sector, Civil Society, Diaspora) 69 III.7 Partnership and Relations with the World 72 1. On-going Partnerships 72 2. Representational Offices 84 IV. SHARED VALUES 102 IV. 1 Democracy, Elections and Governance 102 IV. 2 Human Rights 106 IV. 3 Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Displaced Persons 108 IV. 4 Gender and Development 109 IV. 5 Culture 110 IV. 6 Legal Matters (Legal architecture of the Union) 111 V. STRENGTHENING THE INSTITUTIONS 119 V.1 The Commission 119 1. Institutional Capacity Building Programme 119 2. Audit Activities 129 3. Communication and Information 131 V.2 The Financial Institutions 132 1. Establishment of the Financial Institutions: Significant 132 Progress Achieved 2. Alternative Sources of Funding of the African Union: 133 Generate its own Funds in order to Strengthen the Union VI. CONCLUSION 134 EX. CL/579(XVII) Page i FOREWORD This Report, the fifth in the series since I took office at the helm of the African Union Commission, is intended to reflect as faithfully as possible the activities undertaken by the Commission since the last session of the Assembly in January/February 2010. It aims, in particular, to generate reflection on the results so far achieved, thus enabling us to devise a more effective action to position the Organisation on a highly promising path, leading to the gradual actualisation of the Vision and Mission of the Union and the Strategic Plan of the Commission. Since the last Assembly session in January/February 2010, the Commission has continued to implement the Decisions of the Executive Council and of the Assembly as well as the Strategic Plan 2009-2012 adopted by the Assembly in Sirte in July 2009, a plan articulated around four Pillars: Peace and Security; Integration, Development and Cooperation; Shared Values; and Strengthening the Institutions. The Commission, in addition, devoted sustained attention to the strategic guidelines given at the last session by the Bureau of the Assembly, namely: the priorities of the priorities identified, that is, food self-sufficiency and agriculture, transport infrastructure, energy and ICTs. This Report represents an account of the numerous activities undertaken in these key sectors for the development of the Continent. To live up to all the aforementioned expectations of Member States, the Commission worked closely with all Organs of the Union, particularly the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) which, on behalf of all Member States, was associated with all stages of the process. The Commission and the PRC worked together, more than previously, in a way that enabled the PRC to consider all the documents meant for the Executive Council. By so doing, the Commission made the necessary clarification by providing quality information, thereby facilitating the work and decision of the Council. This collaboration in particular allowed for in-depth analysis of all the documents submitted to Council together with all the related implications and appropriate recommendations. The collaboration also made possible the finalisation of the draft Staff Rules and Regulations, adoption of which is expected during the present Assembly session. Similarly, the Commission prepared a Draft Structure which has been reviewed in line with the needs deemed to be the most essential, taking into account available and mobilizable resources. However, much progress could not be made with respect to this activity at the level of the Sub-committee on Structures. It is our hope that Member States will make it a point to endow the Commission with an adequate structure to discharge its missions that are growing by the day. It is also needful for Member States to make timely payment of their assessed budget contributions to facilitate implementation of the programmes put in place on the basis of these budgetary resources and avoid the situation whereby, at each budgetary session, it is deplored that the rates of execution are always at their lowest. The Commission has, for its part, gradually provided itself with modern, efficient, transparent and accountability-driven management tools, thereby further reassuring our EX. CL/579(XVII) Page ii Member States, our partners and the African society in general, that judicious use is being made of the public money and other resources put at our disposal. Whether in regard to human resource management, budget, official missions and other travels, or with respect to the external liaison offices, assets, materials and equipment management, and regulations and procedure monitoring, these high-performance electronic tools and instruments that have been inspired by best practices in similar organisations, are being employed in no small measure to correct and do away, once and for all, with the management errors and bad habits of the past. The Commission has, in recent months, invested significant effort in the preparation of the debate on the theme of the present Summit which is “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”. In so doing, the Commission worked with all Member States through interaction with their Health Ministers as well as with all our partners, particularly United Nations Agencies, to enable the Assembly of the Union to take appropriate decisions to tackle the challenges facing the Continent, which indeed includes achieving this important Millennium Development Goal at the threshold of 2015 and thus proclaim proudly that we are certain that “no woman should die while giving life”. With regard to Peace and Security, the Commission has continued to deploy intense efforts, bearing in mind, in particular, that 2010 has been proclaimed the Year of Peace and Security in Africa, and that it is also the year of operationalization of the African Stand-by Force. It is for this reason that, in addition to the issues addressed in this Report, other more comprehensive reports are being submitted to the policy Organs, for an exhaustive overview of the actions we have undertaken to promote the programmes outlined for the Year. We urge all Member States and all the people of Africa to continue to rally behind these initiatives to change the image of our Continent ridden with conflicts and endemic social and humanitarian crises into one at peace within its own borders, a Continent set to play its part to perfection and take its proper place in the globalisation process. To achieve this goal, it is noteworthy that the Commission, together with a number of Member States participated in the deliberations of the G8 and G20 Summits chaired by Canada in the vicinity of Toronto in June this year. Africa must continue to press the G8 and G20 for adequate representation in these forums to enable the Continent to defend its legitimate interests. It must also insist that the commitments made by these bodies are honoured, rather than merely witnessing a sort of recycling of the pledges made but never actually implemented. In the same vein, Africa must continuously insist on being represented in all the forums, such as the Security Council and the Bretton Woods Institutions, where decisions that shape the world are taken. As regards strengthening partnerships, we have two important events lined up for this year, namely, the 2nd Afro-Arab Summit due to be held in Libya in October 2010, and the 3rd Africa-Europe Summit, also scheduled to take place in Libya in November 2010. We have, in concert with the relevant partners, taken all the measures required for these Summits to be held under the best possible conditions and, in particular, to ensure that the meetings are provided with appropriate documentation that will enable them to take decisions commensurate with our expectations. To this end, we have held meetings on a EX. CL/579(XVII) Page iii regular basis, with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States with respect to the Afro-Arab Summit. With regard to the Africa-EU Summit, the meeting of the EU and AU Commissions held in Addis Ababa on 8 June 2010, presided by their President and Chairperson respectively, afforded the two parties the opportunity to assess the level of preparations, which was deemed satisfactory. In conclusion, I take this opportunity to reiterate our total commitment to further strengthen our relations with all the stakeholders and all our partners, so as to join forces with them in achieving the objectives of the Union in the best possible conditions.