AU Monitor: Issue 103, 2007

[Hakima Abbas]

Issue 103, 2007 – Weekly Roundup

As the parties to the conflict in Darfur meet in Libya for peace  
talks, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union issues a  
communiqué on the implementation process of the Comprehensive Peace  
Agreement signed between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan  
People’s Liberation Movement/Army.  The communiqué encourages the  
African Union Ministerial Committee on the Post-Conflict  
Reconstruction of the Sudan to intensify its efforts by, without  
delay, visiting the Sudan, issue recommendations on how African Union  
member States could contribute more significantly to the post- 
conflict reconstruction and to convene a conference on African  
involvement in the reconstruction.  The communiqué also requests the  
Commission to appoint a new Special Envoy and to open an African  
Union Liaison Office in Khartoum, with an office in Juba.

Also in peace and security news, experts have suggested that ECOWAS  
amend existing instruments for promoting peace and security in West  
Africa so that they address the realities of the region. Further in  
regional news, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is  
developing a food reserve facility to address the food emergencies of  
the region.  Further in SADC news, Munetsi Madakufamba writes about  
the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) which is to be launched next year with  
the hope of removing barriers on all intra-regional trade. The target  
is to ensure that 85 percent of most intraregional trade is at zero  
tariffs by 2008. The programme aims to create the FTA in 2008, a  
customs union by 2010, a common market by 2015 and a Monetary Union  
by 2018. The author highlights the impetus and challenges of the  
programme including multiple membership of some States to Regional  
Economic Communities that are working towards creating, or already  
have, customs unions.

Moreover in financial news, the African Development Bank (AfDB)  
approved a US $25 million equity investment to create a fund to  
develop local currency products. This Currency Exchange (TCX) will be  
established with a transaction capacity of US $ 1.2 billion.   
According to the Bank, they will be able to use it as a funding  
alternative to finance its projects in local currencies and will  
provide local entrepreneurs with funding in local currency, thereby  
eliminating the currency mismatches that are typically created  
between local-currency revenues and foreign-currency liabilities.

In civil society news, the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights,  
together with the Coalition on Violence Against Women, Kenya,  
organized a public forum in Nairobi titled “Politically and  
Powerfully Participating in Elections: Women’s Strategies for change  
in Kenya, South Africa and Liberia”.  Faith Kasiva, the Coordinator  
for the Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW), noted that this  
public forum comes at an opportune time in Kenya as the elections  
near and in the wake of a defeated constitutional amendment bill that  
proposed 50 special seats for women in parliament. Kenya has also not  
ratified the protocol to the African charter of Human and people’s  
rights on the rights of women. Commenting on the South African  
experience, Delphine Serumaga noted that the increased participation  
by women in decision-making during apartheid forced the government to  
take the decision on proportional representation. It was observed  
that women in South Africa are more aware of their rights partly  
because of the struggle against apartheid where women played an equal  
role as men. Sharing the Liberia experience, Una Thompson noted that  
the role of women in the election of the 1st female president in  
Africa began during the turbulence of the war.  Despite the strong  
party alliances in Liberia, there was national solidarity and more  
specifically women solidarity and responsibility with an increased  
percentage of women voting which led to the election of the 1st woman  
candidate, who is now the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson  
Sirleaf. Speaking on Kenya, Jane Onyango, noted that Kenya has  
struggled with the affirmative action bill since the early 1990s  
after the Beijing Women’s conference. The affirmative action bill was  
shot down in parliament, then came the constitutional amendment bill  
that proposed 50 special seats for women in parliament and was  
recently shot down by a male dominated parliament. The bill received  
opposition from both sides of the house.

As AfriMAP launches reports on the African Peer Review Mechanism  
(APRM) in Ghana and Mauritius, Gawaya Tegulle writes that the APRM  
“is a way of having African leaders compare notes and ensure that  
they are steering their nations according to a set standard, whose  
aim is to ensure a democratic, free, prosperous and peaceful  
continent”, but, argues that the mechanism comes at the wrong time.  
With African leaders who are intent on consolidating power funding  
and controlling the process and the review’s methodology being so  
dense that “by the time a review is completed and implemented, so  
much water would have passed under the bridge”, the author argues  
that only a new breed of African leaders will create a successful  
review.

Lastly, Joan Gathoni writes of the launch of the African Union of  
Broadcasting (AUB) held in Nairobi during which Chief Executives from  
media companies across Africa deliberated on common issues and ways  
of addressing them. The President of the new Broadcasting Union, Ben  
Egbuna, says the organization “project the true image of Africa”.

The AU Monitor also brings you the agenda of the sixth session of the  
African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the African  
Union web page on Economic Partnership Agreements.


African Union Broadcasting

Joan Gathoni—Information and Communication Assistant Minister, Koigi  
Wamwere is challenging the media in Africa to play a more active role  
as a driving force for Unity and Development.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/372/


Futility of African Peer Review

Gawaya Tegulle—For lack of a better word, we shall call it diplomacy;  
especially since it was an exchange between states on matters of  
mutual concern, but without gunfire.  On another day it could even  
pass for polite; because when you have Libya and Nigeria, who share  
the unofficial title of Africa’s loudest, asking you to kindly  
reconsider, you really have to give it to them.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/371/


Local Currency Lending

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB),  
approved a US $ 25 million equity investment under its private sector  
window, on Wednesday in Tunis, to create a ground-breaking fund to  
develop local currency products. This Currency Exchange (TCX) will be  
established with a transaction capacity of US $ 1.2 billion.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/370/


Web Page on EPAs

The African Union has created a web page dedicated to information on  
the Economic Partnership Agreements being negotiated by the European  
Commission with six groups of African, Caribbean and Pacific  
countries.  Documentation including the Nairobi Declaration and the  
Ministerial Declaration on EPAs can be downloaded at the site: http:// 
www.africa-union.org/root/au/AUC/Departments/TI/EPA/epa.htm.


APRM in Mauritius and Ghana

AfriMAP has launched a report on the conduct of the African Peer  
Review Mechanism (APRM) process in Ghana (AfriMAP_APRM_Ghana_EN.pdf),  
and in particular the extent to which the process involved the real  
participation of civil society and the wider society, along with a  
report on the first phase of the APRM process in Mauritius  
(AfriMAP_APRM_Mauritius_EN.pdf), prepared by Sheila Bunwaree of the  
University of Mauritius.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/368/


Session of the African Court

The sixth session of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights  
will be held in Arusha, Tanzania from the 17 - 28 of September,  
2007.  The draft agenda is now available at www.aumonitor.org/ 
comments/366/.


Papers on the Union Government

AfriMAP was the major sponsor of two important fora that took place  
in advance of the summit and enabled civil society organizations to  
debate the proposal for a Union Government and provide input to what  
was termed the ‘Grand Debate’.  For these two discussions, AfriMAP  
commissioned papers on aspects of the Union Government proposal by  
several individuals who have been close observers of the project for  
continental integration. These papers – which will be supplemented by  
other contributions – are available on the AfriMAP website, with the  
communiqués from the meetings: http://www.afrimap.org/ 
researchDetail.php?id=27.


Sudan Peace Agreement Implementation

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union, at its 89th  
meeting held on 24 August 2007, adopted the following Communiqué on  
the implementation process of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)  
signed between the Government of the Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan  
People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), on 9 January 2005:

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/364/


Politically and Powerfully Participating in Elections

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights, together with the  
Coalition on Violence Against Women, Kenya, organized a public forum  
in Nairobi titled: Politically and Powerfully Participating in  
Elections: Women’s Strategies for change in Kenya, South Africa and  
Liberia. The event attracted participants from civil society, women  
and human rights activists from eight countries in Africa, including  
South Africa and Liberia, and members of the public.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/363/


SADC Food Reserve Facility

The SADC Secretariat is developing a Regional Food Reserve Facility,  
which will ensure physical stocks and financial reserves for use in  
times of food crisis.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/362/


Promoting Peace in West Africa

PANA—Regional technical experts have suggested the amendment of the  
existing instruments for promoting peace and security in West Africa  
so they will reflect the dynamics in the region, according to an  
ECOWAS statement made available to PANA here Wednesday.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/361/


Economic Milestones Achievable

Munetsi Madakufamba (SADC Today)—With the year 2008 fast approaching,  
the SADC region is preparing for a new way of doing business.

Read more:
www.aumonitor.org/comments/360/


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Hakima Abbas
Policy Analyst, AU-Monitor
Fahamu - Networks for Social Justice
Email: hakima at fahamu.org
Skype: hakima_abbas
www.aumonitor.org
www.fahamu.org






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