AU Monitor: Issue 130, 2008

[Hakima Abbas]

AU Monitor: Issue 130, 2008

Headlines

1.      Meeting of Ministers of Justice

2.      Comoros Takes Control of Anjouan

3.      China in Africa

4.      European Food Aid in East Africa

5.      African Standby Force

6.      Results of OIC for Africa

7.      ECOWAS Civil Society Workshop

8.      Zimbabwe Election Observation Mission

9.      Conference of Ministers for Integration

10.   African Media Summit


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.  The Union  
government of Comoros postponed the elections on Anjouan “citing  
irregularities and intimidation in the run-up to voting” but Mohamed  
Bacar went on with voting preparations, printing ballot papers and  
claiming a landslide victory.  Following the elections, AU efforts  
failed to break the deadlock between the Union government and Bacar  
who claimed the presidency of Anjouan.  In February 2008, the AU  
Peace and Security Council “revised its stance on the political  
conflict and moved to backing the Union government's position of  
using military force”.  1,500 AU troops backed the Union government  
army’s intervention on the island on March 24.

Also, in peace and security news, Africa’s defence and security  
ministers are meeting this week to discuss progress towards the  
establishment of an African Standby Force (ASF), which is mandated  
“to intervene in various cases, including violation of human rights,  
war crimes and genocide as well as providing humanitarian  
assistance”.  The ASF is facing challenges regarding the  
harmonisation and rationalisation of the five Regional Standby  
Brigades set up by the Regional Economic Communities and which have  
evolved at difference paces.  According to the AU’s Peace and  
Security Commissioner “another chronic challenge facing the AU is the  
paucity of funding” for the Standby Force.

Following a global assessment on levels of food insecurity, the  
European Commission (EC) has selected seventeen priority countries to  
benefit from a food program valued at 160 million euros, the biggest  
annual amount to date.  All East African Community countries except  
Rwanda are included in the relief program, as are Sudan, Chad,  
Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia,  
Zimbabwe and the Sahel Countries.  Meanwhile, Oscar Kimanuka analyses  
the new opportunities presented by Chinese aid and trade as an  
alternative to United States and European domination, warning in  
closing that “whatever Africa may be gaining from its renewed  
interest in China, we should not lose sight of our own interest as  
Africans. We need to benefit from these relations for the sake of the  
development of our people”.  Also in aid-related news, the  
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has pledged US$10  
billion by 2010 for African country-members of the OIC under the  
Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development.  The reduction or  
cancellation of debt owed by African countries to member countries of  
the Ummah was also discussed at the recent OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal.

Upcoming AU related events include the third African media summit,  
which will be held in Tunis, Tunisia, next week under the theme “how  
youth can help change the image of Africa in the re-branding  
process”.  In addition, the AU will be holding a meeting of ministers  
of justice in mid-April which will discuss, amongst other things, the  
legal instrument on the merger of the African Court on Human and  
Peoples’ Rights and the Court of Justice of the African Union as well  
as the harmonisation of ratification procedures in member states.   
Further, the third conference of African Ministers for Integration  
will be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, between May 19-23.

In a promising development for civil society and citizen  
participation in regional integration, the Economic Community of West  
African States (ECOWAS) held a workshop this week “to familiarize the  
civil society in West Africa with the new vision of ECOWAS and the  
Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) and help deepen  
the regional integration process”.  The workshop took place in in  
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, under the theme “from Integration of  
States to Integration of Peoples in West Africa: Broadening Dialogue  
to Embrace Civil Society”.

Lastly, as Zimbabwe prepares for elections on March 29, the Pan- 
African Parliament (PAP) will be sending an observer mission of  
twenty parliamentarians representing the five regions of Africa,  
supported by staff from the secretariat of PAP and the Electoral  
Institute of Southern Africa.

Read More

Meeting of Ministers of Justice

The Meeting of Experts and Ministers of Justice and Attorney Generals  
on legal matters will be held on April 14-18, 2008 at the AU  
headquarters.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1168/


Comoros Takes Control of Anjouan

(IRIN) - Comoros took control of its rebel island of Anjouan on  
Tuesday in a military operation aimed at toppling renegade leader,  
Mohamed Bacar, a government official said.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1167/


China in Africa

Oscar Kimanuka (The EastAfrican) -- Whatever people in the developed  
world may think about China today, there is no doubt that there is a  
new sun rising in the East.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1166/


European Food Aid in East Africa

Phillip Nabyama (East African Business Week) -- All East African  
Community (EAC) countries but Rwanda are lined up for a massive food  
relief programme by the European Commission (EC) on the back drop of  
a detailed assessment on the levels of food insecurity.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1165/


African Standby Force

(PANA) -- Africa's defence and security ministers are due to meet  
here Friday to set the pace for the establishment of a permanent  
force fo r bursting conflicts and the maintenance of security in the  
continent, African Union's Peace and Security Commissioner Said  
Djinnit said Monday.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1164/


Results of OIC for Africa

(PANA) - Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio,  
has disclosed an amount of US$ 10 billion will be raised by 2010,  
under the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), to enable  
African country-members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference  
(OIC) benefit from.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1163/


ECOWAS Civil Society Workshop

Press Release -- A three-day workshop captioned “From Integration of  
States to Integration of Peoples in West Africa: Broadening Dialogue  
to Embrace Civil Society” will begin in Ouagadougou on Tuesday, 26th  
March 2008.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1162/


Zimbabwe Election Observation Mission

Press Release -- The Pan African Parliament (PAP) would like to  
announce that it had received an invitation from the Government of  
Zimbabwe to participate as an observer for its forthcoming Harmonized  
Elections set to take place on March 29, 2008 for which it would like  
to express its appreciation. This is the second time that PAP is  
called upon to observe elections in a Member State, the first being  
Kenya.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1161/


Conference of Ministers for Integration

The third conference of African Ministers for Integration will be  
held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire between May 19-23, 2008.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1160/


African Media Summit

Press Release -- The African Communications Agency (ACA) is convening  
the Third Africa’s International Media Summit (AIMS) from 27-30 March  
2008 in Tunis.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/1159/


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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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