[AU-Monitor] Stand up to be counted: Is the AU's vision in jeopardy?

[AU-Monitor Analyst/Editor]

A report on the African Union commissioned by three civil society
organisations—AfriMAP, AFRODAD and Oxfam—and endorsed by nineteen others,
will be launched this evening (January 24) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The
report titled *Towards a People-driven African Union: Current obstacles and
New Opprtunities* interrogates the key challenges facing the African Union
in realising its vision and mandate.

The 72-page report is the first independent, substantive and public
assessment of the progress of the African Union towards the goal of greater
accountability and accessibility since it was founded in 2002. It reviews
and makes extensive recommendations on the interaction between the African
Union and various sectors, including civil society, in articulating its
vision for the continent.

The report offers a useful and sober commentary on the AU because it borrows
heavily on the first hand experiences of those engaged in lobbying and
influencing the AU. This provides useful insights into areas where the AU
has performed well and offers fresh perspective and critique on those where
the institution needs to rededicate its commitment.

The writers have acknowledged the various institutional capacity
constraints, including policies and procedures, which most impact on the
AU's interphase with various stakeholders. Recommendations made in this
regard, if taken into consideration and implemented, could enhance the AU's
effectiveness, profile and mandate.

The report considers both the internal workings of the AU and its key organs
which are central to the work of civil society such as the Economic, Social
and Cultural Council (ECOSOC). It notes that while every Member state is
supposed to have a national ECOSOC chapter, this is more the exception
rather than the reality. In addition, continental election processes to
ECOSOC's interim structures have been problematic and undemocratic.
Consequently, the report calls for greater urgency and capacity on the part
of the ECOSOC to effectively marshall and harness the voices of civil
society.
"If ECOSOC is to play the role intended for it", says Irungu Houghton of
Oxfam GB, " it must become a much more genuinely representative and
autonomous body, self organised rather than supervised by governments".

While welcoming the greater openness of the AU to civil society
participation in comparision to its predecessor, the Organisation of African
Unity, the report notes that many institutional obstacles still block the
realisation of the AU's vision. Key among these are the sheer number of AU
Ministerial meetings, orginary and extraordinary summits each year,
commission budget shortfalls and multiplicity of national legal frameworks,
incoherent institutional arrangements and unclear policies and procedures.
Further, most African governments have not reformed their national
institutions and processes to respond to the new continental architecture.
"Unless checked, this vacuum threatens to undermine the entire purpose of
the African Union. It will also leave the legacy of the first Commission
under the leadership of former President Konare unconsolidated when he steps
down in September 2007", says Charles Mutasa, AFRODAD Executive Director.

In the main, the report affirms the hopes and expectations of Africa's
people and examines how the AU can support their realisation in consonance
with its vision and mandate. Its recommendations are a sobering reflection
on the AU's vision, a useful analysis on a more effective civil society and
the prerequisites in moving the AU to the next frontier in fulfilling the
expectations of Africa's people.


-- 
Gichinga Ndirangu
Consultant Policy Analyst / Editor
AU- Monitor
aumonitor.editor at gmail.com

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