Pambazuka African Union Monitor, by euforic

AU Monitor

The African Union suspends Madagascar

The peace and security council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) has proclaimed that the process leading to the assumption of power by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina in Madagascar was unconstitutional and therefore has decided to suspended Madagasca...

Africa: AU suspends Madagascar over coup

The African Union suspended Madagascar on Friday, the strongest condemnation yet by the international community after opposition leader Andry Rajoelina took power with the support of the army. The AU decision echoed criticism by southern African bloc...

AU condemns assassination of president Vieira

The chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Jean Ping strongly condemned the assassination of the President of Guinea Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira hours after that of his army chief of staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai and called on polit...

The ICC issues arrest warrant against Bashir

The peace and security council of the African Union (AU) condemned the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and recommended the chairperson of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, send a delegat...

The undecided union government of Africa

The final decisions of the January 2009 African Union (AU) summit, including the assembly decision on the union government, are available to download at www.aumonitor.org - http://www.aumonitor.org The decision on the union government and th...

Ministers for foreign affairs to revise union government plan

The Assembly of heads of state and government of the African Union (AU) ended their 12th ordinary summit on 4 February 2009 with a decision to transform the African Union Commission (AUC) into the African Union Authority (AUA), to be launched in June...

Africa: Gaddafi wants Caribbean in Africa

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has said he would like a United States of Africa to include "Caribbean islands with African populations". Col Gaddafi, speaking in Tripoli as the African Union's (AU) new chairman, said this could include Haiti, Jama...

Africa: African leaders deadlock over Union Government

Dumping an earlier agreement, African leaders meeting here on Wednesday failed to reach a consensus on the transformation of the African Union Commission (AUC) to the African Union Authority, as a first step towards the establishment of a Union Gover...

Africa: Africa close to Union Government after years of debate

African leaders are expected to deal conclusively with the discussions regarding the formation of the Union Government during their meeting scheduled for Sunday which could see the birth of a federal government for Africa after more than half-a-centu...

Africa: AU against Bashir indictment

African governments have rallied behind Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in rejecting a possible international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating genocide in Sudan's volatile western region of Darfur....

Kenyan peace summit takes place in February

Former African leaders will attend a peace conference in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme ‘The Kenya we want’ to discuss the political transformation of the country from an ‘ethnic-divisions-ridden state’ into a more tolerant democracy in the region as...

The Zimbabwe crisis deteriorates

The 12th ordinary summit of the African Union (AU) will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between January 26 and February 3, 2009 under the theme of ‘Infrastructure development in Africa’. According to the Centre for Citizen’s Participation in the AU ...

Summit on Burundi's peace process

The Regional Peace Initiative chaired by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni held a summit on Burundi’s peace process, which has included over twenty summits resulting the surrender of six of the country’s seven former rebel movements. Future meetings ...

Need for a stronger UN mandate in the DR Congo

Heads of State and government of the Great Lakes peace conference met in Nairobi, Kenya in a summit organised by the UN Secretary-General and the African Union (AU) to deal with the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and called for an i...

AU Responds to Financial Crisis

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, after failing to break the deadlock over the formation of a new Zimbabwean government at a meeting in Swaziland, referred the matter to a full emer...

Africa's largest trading bloc

Member States from the East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Common Markets of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) met in Uganda to discuss the merger of the three economic blocs and the current financial c...

The Logic of Integration

Following a review workshop in Kenya, the East African Community (EAC) deputy secretary general announced that national consultations on the proposed EAC political federation were on course in Rwanda and Burundi. In addition, military commanders from...

Mauritania Deadline Set

A continental workshop on the Economic Partnership Agreements between European and African countries will be held in Addis Ababa to analyse whether inconsistency between regional objectives and initial bilateral trade agreements involving some Africa...

African Development

The under-Secretary-General and UN special adviser on Africa called on world leaders gathered at the United Nations (UN) high-level meeting on African development to ‘streamline actions and upgrade priorities towards the New Partnership for Africa’s ...

Zimbabwe Deal

Zimbabwe’s three main political parties have signed a power-sharing agreement, bringing to an end to nearly 30 years of exclusive rule by Zanu-PF. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, facilitator of the Zimbabwe talks, told journalists that ‘a unan...

Impact as Effectiveness

The third high level forum (HLF-3) convened in Ghana this week to discuss aid effectiveness. Aid agencies that attended the forum said donors have not made enough progress since the 2005 Paris Declaration in dealing with long-time problems related to...

Aid and Trade in Africa

The third high level forum (HLF3) on aid effectiveness will be held between the 2nd and 4th of September in Accra to discuss the implementation of the Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness since 2005. Prior to the HLF3, civil society representatives...

The Mauritanian Coup: an African Union Response

The African Union (AU) has condemned the military coup in Mauritania and insisted on a return to constitutional government while sending its peace and security commissioner ‘to assess the situation and assist in promoting a peaceful solution to the c...

Africa and HIV/AIDS

The decisions of the executive council and the assembly of heads of state and government from the recently concluded African Union summit in Egypt are now available for download. ...

G8 Hypocrisy

The leaders of the world’s most industrialised nations declared their intention to impose sanctions on "individuals responsible for violence" in Zimbabwe, adding that they did not recognise the legitimacy of President Mugabe’s government and calling ...

Peace with Justice

Following the announcement by International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Ocampo-Moreno of the application to the Court for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war cri...

Africa and the G8

The African Union (AU) chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete led a team of seven African presidents to the G8 summit in Japan that had food and oil crises, climate change and attainment of Millennium Development Goals on the top of their agenda. Kikwete urged the G8, group of eight most industrialised countries, ‘to nurture and fulfil their promises if they were really concerned about Africa’s development’, says AU Monitor in their latest roundup.

From the AU Summit

The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) met between June 24-25 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, ahead of the Executive Council (EC) that was to take major decisions ‘to breath fresh life into several organs of the continental body, and remove doubts ...

Zimbabwe at the African Union

Civil society organisations (CSOs) held, from June 22 to 23, the third Citizen’s Continental Conference in Sharm El Sheikh ahead of the Eleventh African Union (AU) Summit. The Continental Conference provided space for African citizens, the Diaspora, ...

Peace and Security in Africa

The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) expressed their deep concern over the confrontation between the armed forces of Eritrea and Djibouti that began on June 10. The PSC urged the two countries to commence dialogue to resolve...

Agricultural Revolution

During the World Economic Forum on Africa that took place in South Africa, the host president expressed his confidence that Africa can overcome its challenges. His sentiments were echoed by Mr Borge Brende, WEF managing director, who noted the tremen...

Africa's food crisis

As the world food summit wraps up in Rome, civil society organisations call on policy makers to investigate the role of “commodity speculators in causing the current food price crisis and stop them profiting from hunger”. Speculative investment in c...

AU marks Africa Liberation Day

As Africa marked the golden jubilee of African Liberation Day on May 25th, the African Union (AU) commission marked the occasion under the theme of "Meeting the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation", which will also be the theme of th...

Peace and security should focus on human security

During the Pan African Parliament (PAP) deliberations, which concluded this week, Fatima Hajale, a South African parliamentarian, argued that PAP’s peace and security policies should focus on human rather than state security. During PAP’s considerat...

AU Monitor - Weekly Roundup

The 11th African Union (AU) Summit will be held in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, between June 24 and July 1, 2008, under the theme of “Meeting the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation”. The Permanent Representatives’ Committee will be held ...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

While a number of African countries signed interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union late last year, African policy makers are coming under increasing pressure from a variety of stakeholders to revoke and annul the interi...

AU Monitor - Weekly Roundup

One month after elections in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has yet to release the results of the presidential elections. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) noted in its interim statement that “the post-election phase which forms pa...

AU Monitor Weekly Update

The AU Monitor and the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) invite research papers for the forthcoming publication “African Perspectives on Aid in Africa” to be published in September 2008. While Africa is the biggest recipien...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa has issued an open letter on behalf of “the many people within SADC [the Southern African Development Community] increasingly alarmed at unfolding events in Zimbabwe” to heads of state and government, m...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week’s AU Monitor brings you a report back from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) civil society workshop written by Edwin Ikhuoria of the National Association of Nigerian Traders. The workshop was convened by ECOWAS in orde...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

African Union (AU) troops this week supported the Comoros army to take control of the rebel island of Anjouan. The crisis began in June 2007 when African Union monitored elections were due to be held on the islands of Anjouan, Grand Comore and Moheli...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week’s AU Monitor brings you analysis from John Palmer on the lessons from the European Union (EU) for the African Union. Providing a detailed background of the structures, membership criteria and values of the EU, he asks whether regional bloc...

AU Monitor Weekly Update

The African Union (AU) has issued a communiqué this week condemning “the continuous deadly and indiscriminate attacks against civilian areas in Gaza Strip committed by the Israeli occupying forces”, which it claims constitute systematic violations of...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week’s AU Monitor brings you news from the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) sent a delegation to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to study its agricultural policy ...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week’s AU Monitor brings you analysis of the AU audit report from Dolphine Ndeda who urges that the report be popularised and implemented immediately. She notes that “one general finding of the Panel was that the AU commission is characterised by internal institutional incoherence and disarray” and calls on the incoming Chairperson and Commissioners to prioritize management and outreach reform without delay....

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

The AU Monitor's Monthly Discussion Paper Series presents its current paper, based on the "Open Letter to Africa's Present and Future Leaders" written by the 2007 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellows. Among other recommendations, the letter urges "the establishment of a high-level African Union led campaign to fight tribalism and inequality in all its forms across the continent." Forum members are encouraged to contribute to the discussion and answer the proposed questions....

AU Monitor: Issue 123, 2008

This week’s AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the African Union (AU) summit. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has been elected Chair of the African Union, promising that he will do everything “within his mandate to work towards peace...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week's AU Monitor brings you updates and analyses from the 10th Ordinary Session of the African Union, where President John Agyekum Kufuor ends his term as Chairman of the African Union this week. President Kufuor is acknowledged for his many accomplishments and the progress that the AU has made during his tenure. ...

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

This week's AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government. As the Heads of State convene for the 10thAfrican Union Summit, Chrysantus Ayangafac provides an in-...