Peoples' Audit Update

[Hakima Abbas]

Peoples’ Audit Update



On the heels of the High Level Panel’s invitation for e-submissions,  
the AU Monitor urged African civil society and citizens to contribute  
to the process of a “Peoples’ Audit of the AU”.  This week, the AU  
Monitor brings you the perspective of Charles Mutasa, AFRODAD  
Executive Director and Deputy Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC, which  
provides critique and analysis of ECOSOCC, along with a policy brief  
from AfriMap that provides recommendations for open, democratic and  
transparent AU policies and processes as well as a call from the  
Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund for the AU to increase its outreach,  
support and contribution to the African Diaspora.



Furthermore, heeding the call for a written submission before the  
completion of the panel’s first draft of their report, a joint  
preliminary civil society statement was formulated and endorsed by  
over twenty civil society organisations and coalitions working in  
over thirty countries.  The high-level panel extended the days on  
which they were to convene, according to their working agenda, in  
order to hear the submission which was presented by a delegation of  
civil society representatives: myself, Hakima Abbas of Fahamu’s AU  
Monitor initiative, Eyob Balcha of Afroflag Youth Vision, Faiza  
Mohamed of Equality Now and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights  
Coalition (SOAWR), and Alioune Tine of Recontre Africaine pour la  
Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO).



During the meeting, we delivered the joint statement and provided  
reference documentation, including, the CSO Accra communiqué and the  
executive summary of the report Towards a People-Driven African  
Union.  The floor was then given to each civil society representative  
to elaborate on the recommendations of the statement based on their  
areas of expertise.  Eyob Balcha delivered a statement from a youth  
perspective in which he recommended the creation of an AU  
institutional framework through which the participation of African  
youth is mainstreamed in continental decision-making processes,  
including the inclusion of youth representatives in national  
delegations; the creation of a permanent continental youth body  
responsible for engagement with sub-regional and national youth  
initiatives; and the practical implementation of the agreed decisions  
and provisions of the African Youth Charter.



Following Eyob’s presentation, Faiza Mohamed offered recommendations  
and insight to the panel from a gender perspective.  She recommended  
that the Commission be provided a mandate to monitor and report on  
the implementation of AU decisions by member states and that the AU  
consider imposing sanctions on member states that do not deliver on  
their commitments to ratify and domesticate the AU/OAU protocols.   
Also, noting that the Women, Gender and Development Directorate  
(WGDD) is under-resourced and that it has been a year since the  
position of director of the Directorate remains vacant, she urged the  
review panel to investigate the effects of such a lack of leadership  
on programs.  She also recommended that the fifty-fifty gender  
balance policy of the African Union be strictly and promptly  
implemented at the Commission and that Member States be urged to  
consider implementing this gender balance in its representation at  
the Permanent Representatives Committee and Executive Council of the  
African Union.



Lastly, Alioune Tine addressed the panel regarding the need for  
democratic participation and governance with in the African Union.   
He noted the difficulties civil society have had in accessing  
important information, in obtaining visas for participation in AU  
summits and other meetings and the lack of public spaces within the  
AU compound itself (comparing the space to the United Nations  
building).  He sited as an example of lack of information that,  
despite his organisation being a member of ECOSOCC, he was unaware,  
until his arrival in Addis, of the continental elections taking place  
on Monday October 31st.  He noted that an example of successful  
partnership between civil society and the AU was participation in the  
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.  However, he also  
noted that the criteria for observer status that requires  
organisations to be funded with a majority of resources derived from  
its membership is not realistic for most African NGOs.  Finally,  
Alioune noted that the AU must take into further consideration  
geographic and linguistic spread in all its meetings so as to ensure  
that nobody is excluded based solely on our colonial experiences.



As the floor was opened to questions from the panel, further  
elaboration was requested and provided on access to information via  
the website, which we considered largely insufficient.  For example,  
amendments to the consultative act are not available on the AU site  
and the ECOSOCC website is not up to date.  In addition, it was noted  
that the media should have stronger interface with the AU so that  
information is popularised at the national level not just through the  
Internet (to which many do not have access) but also through TV,  
radio and print.  The panel was reminded that the legitimacy of civil  
society is often based on a public mandate and that while we do not  
equate civil society with citizenry, we believe that a strong civil  
society interface with the AU will enable greater implementation of  
decisions at the national level.  In addition, the panel were made  
aware of the public consultations that were held in ten countries in  
advance of the Accra summit that informed the CSO communiqué from  
Accra.  In terms of ECOSOCC we brought attention to the fact that the  
Interim President of the General Assembly was not given official  
space to present her report at the last summit and that such  
disregard by Heads of States reflects badly on the potential policy  
influence of the council.  More detail was presented regarding SOAWR  
activities and organisations as an example of how successful civil  
society engagement can push AU treaty processes forward and drive  
national implementation.  In regard to the African Court on Human and  
Peoples’ Rights, we noted that there is a civil society coalition  
that has been very active in driving ratification and that  
complimentarity is needed vis a vis the protocol of the Court and the  
Commission – indeed, that it is necessary for there to be a thorough  
review of the complimentarity of treaties and protocols across the  
board.  Lastly we remarked that civil society itself has taken the  
lead to strengthen our engagement with the AU, citing as an example  
that the AU Monitor was set up by a range of civil society  
organisations, though now led by Fahamu, to provide news, information  
and analysis to a broad range of organisations and citizens across  
Africa.



The Chairperson noted civil society’s commitment to engaging the  
audit process and reiterated that further documentation would be  
welcomed throughout the process.  He also ensured us that the  
recommendations and ideas from civil society and citizens would be  
duly taken into account in the drafting processes.





Pan-African Spirit



This speech was delivered by Mr. Eyob Balcha of Afroflag Youth Vision  
to the High-Level Panel to Review the African Union on October 24th  
in Addis Ababa.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/448/





Reviewing Gender Equality



This speech was delivered by Ms. Faiza Mohamed of Equality Now to the  
High-Level Panel to Review the African Union on October 24th in Addis  
Ababa.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/447/





Joint CSO Statement



The following statement, endorsed by the undersigned organisations,  
was delivered to the High-Level Panel to Review the African Union on  
October 24th in Addis Ababa by a delegation of civil society  
representatives: Ms. Hakima Abbas of Fahamu’s AU Monitor Initiative,  
Mr. Eyob Balcha of Afroflag Youth Vision, Ms. Faiza Mohamed of  
Equality Now and Mr. Alioune Tine of RADDHO.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/446/





Revisiting ECOSOCC



Charles Mutasa—The African Union desire to have the grassroots’  
voices heard in the regional organization through its economic,  
social and cultural council (ECOSOCC) is likely to be frustrated and  
remain a mirage if the current process for civil society elections  
into its substantive ECOSOCC assembly goes ahead without the  
popularization of the institution among ordinary citizens.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/445/





AfriMap Urges Open Processes



AfriMAP is pleased to make this contribution to the Audit Review of  
the African Union (AU) on the basis of its experience over the past  
three years in monitoring compliance with AU treaties and standards  
and seeking to promote civil society engagement with AU processes and  
institutions.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/449/





The African Diaspora in the AU



The Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund would like to thank the AU Monitor  
for providing a platform for our organisation and the African people  
of the U.S to share our assessment of the performance of the African  
Union in terms of their outreach, support and contribution of the  
African Diaspora in the building of a Union Government.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/444/





The Peoples’ Audit



AU Monitor Invitation for Comments, Discussion and Debate: The AU  
Monitor is seeking your contributions toward a Peoples’ Audit of the  
African Union (AU).



At the AU Summit in July, it was argued that while “all member states  
accept the United States of Africa as a common and a desirable goal”,  
the Executive Council recommended an audit review of the state of the  
Union to identify the areas where significant improvement has to be  
made to accelerate the African integration process.  The audit review  
is being conducted by a panel of ‘eminent persons’ and will be  
presented as a policy document for discussion and adoption at the  
next Heads of States Summit in January 2008.



Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/443/







Please send all contributions to the Peoples’ Audit to  
aumonitor.editor at gmail.com with the subject heading “Peoples’ Audit”





Ms. Hakima Abbas

Policy Analyst, AU Monitor

Fahamu

Email: hakima at fahamu.org

  
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