AU WEEKLY
6--14 April , 2014 AU WEEKLY
…keeping you updated @Oxfam_AU
Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union: OI-AU
PEACE AND SECURITY “Genocide must never happen again in Africa” Music, plays, short stories, video documentaries and prayer from different religious denominations were some of the activities that took place during the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide commemorated on 11 April 2014, at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The anniversary was observed under the theme: KWIBUKA20 “Remember, Unite, and Renew”. “We must renew our determination, and make the choice: that Africa shall be peaceful; that we will integrate; that we shall be prosperous and that we will never again tolerate genocide on African soil”, said AUC Chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, while emphasizing on the need for Africa to silence the guns by 2020.
In this issue •
Nigeria assumes chair of AU Peace and Security Council
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Political parties come together for national dialogue in Sudan
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AU PSC calls for implementation of recommendations of Mali Report
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Qatar happy to join AU
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50,000 children could die in South Sudan: UNICEF
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UN-AU report urges more credible industrial policies to transform Africa
Also present was Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Tewodros Adhano, who said the genocide as an unprecedented tragedy that should “never happen again on this continent”. Further Reading: http://pa.au.int/en/content/commemoration20th-anniversary-rwanda-genocide
Political parties start National Consultative Dialogue in Sudan On 9th April 2014, the Chairperson of the AUC, Dr. Nkosazana DlaminiZuma, welcomed the official commencement of the Sudan National Consultative Dialogue through the convening of a National Political Parties Summit chaired by President Omar Hassan al Bashir on Sunday 6th April, 2014. Dr Dlamini-
Zuma acknowledged that this process was an important step to transit Sudan into a new political dispensation. She also encouraged the Government of Sudan to engage in immediate national reforms and c o n fi d e n c e - b u i l d i n g measures, as announced in the meeting. This according to her would facilitate
genuine participation of all the sectors of society in the national dialogue. Dlaimini-Zuma reiterated the AU’s commitment to assist Sudan, through the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). http://www.peaceau.org/ en/article/the-africanunion-welcomes-thecommencement-of-thesudan-national-consultativedialogue#sthash.jxf11WKG.dpuf
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AU PSC calls for Implementation of recommendations of Mali Report On 7 April, the AUC Commissioner for Political Affairs briefed the AU PSC on the human rights situation in Mali, during the period of occupation of the three northern regions of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal by armed separatists in January 2012.
The PSC raised deep concern over revelations of human rights violations and abuses, characterized by acts of murder, amputations, violence against women and children, rape, floggings and damage of private and
public properties, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage sites.
http://www.peaceau.org/ uploads/426th-psc-br-dpa-7-42014-en.pdf
MISCA receives additional help from the United States The US has extended additional support to the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA). The US has provided deployment airlift assistance to two MISCA battalions, 100
radios to facilitate command and control and promised 200 more vehicles, Xinhua reported US Permanent Representative to the United Nations(UN), Ambassador Samantha Power, handed over 37
vehicles to MISCA at a ceremony held in the capital city of CAR Bangui, a statement from the African Union (AU) said on Friday, April 11.
http://www.business-standard.com/ article/news-ians/central-africanrepublic-receives-additional-ushelp-114041100824_1.html
ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AFFAIRS AND LIVELIHOODS Qatar happy to join the African Union as observer
observer status with the African Union,” al-Rumaihi told Anadolu Agency one day after presenting his credentials to African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Qatari Ambassador to Ethiopia and representative to the African Union Abdel-Aziz alRumaihi on Thursday voiced his country’s satisfaction with joining the pan-African body “We are keen on enhancing its cooperation with the as an observer member. African Union,” he said. “Qatar is very happy to get
Qatar is the fifth Arab country to be given an observer status in the pan-African body. The other four are Kuwait, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. http://www.turkishpress. com/news/400090/
50,000 children could die in months in S.Sudan: UNICEF Conflict in South Sudan has triggered a serious risk of famine that will kill up to 50,000 children within months if immediate action is not taken, the UN warned on Friday, April 11. South Sudan has experienced high levels of malnutrition
since it gained independence in 2011, UNICEF said, and conditions have worsened since ethnic conflict broke out between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and supporters of his former deputy Riek Machar. “Now the ongoing conflict has
pushed them to the edge -- unless treatment is scaled up immediately, up to 50,000 children under the age of five are likely to die,” the agency said. http://www.newvision.co.ug/ news/654511-50-000-childrencould-die-in-months-in-s-sudanunicef.html
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AU WEEKLY AU to deploy Electoral Risk Management tool for Nigeria elections On 7 April 2014, the AU formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria for the deployment and integration of the Electoral Risk Management (ERM) tool in the electoral process of Nigeria which
empower both state and non-state actors to prevent and mitigate electionrelated violence. These three agreed to work together to improve the organizational capacity of INEC to address challenges relating to violence in the upcoming 2015 elections in Nigeria. Dr. Matlosa (Director of Political Affairs) representing the AUC noted
the devastating effects of election-related violence on the continent and highlighted some of the efforts of the African Union Commission to address the phenomenon of electionrelated violence including preventive diplomacy work. http://www.itnewsonline.com/ news/AU-IDEA-INEC-sign-aMOU-for-the-deployment-of-theElectoral-Risk-Management-Toolin-Nigeria/32876/8/5
Nigeria assumes AU Security Council Chair Ambassador Lolo Bulus, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the AU and Ambassador to Ethiopia, has assumed the one-month rotational Chair of the 15-members African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) for April. On April 24, Nigeria will preside
over an open session of the PSC on “Silencing Guns’’: Pre-requisites for achieving a conflict-free Africa by 2020. On April 29, there will be another open session on unconstitutional changes of government and popular uprisings in Africa: Challenges and Lessons
learnt. Also up for discussion during the month of April will be the situations in the Central African Republic, the Sahel, Mali and South Sudan. http://nigerianobservernews. com/11042014/news/news20. html
UN-AU report urges more credible industrial policies to transform Africa While Africa has recorded impressive economic growth in the past decade, more credible industrial policies and institutions are needed to advance the structural transformation of the continent, says a new report released on Friday, April 11, by the United Nations and the African Union. This year’s Economic Report on Africa, jointly produced by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union (AU) adds that transforming
Africa’s industrial landscape has failed partly because countries used industrial blueprints characterised by lack of dynamism and high level coordination, as well as inadequate consultations with stakeholders. The report, launched at UN Headquarters in New York, on Friday, April 11, builds on the work of the 2011 edition – on the role of the state in economic transformation – as well as last year’s report on leveraging Africa’s comparative advantages in
commodities to industrialize. The report tries to “dig deeper” and demonstrate that, to succeed, “industrial policy has to be organic, it has to be contextualized, it has to be specifically African,” ECA Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes said in an interview with UN Radio. http://en.cihan.com. tr/news/UN-releaseslatest-economicreport-on-Africa_4332CHMTQwNDMzMi80
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UPCOMING EVENTS DATE
14 – 17 APRIL
EVENT First African Ministers of Health Conference convened by the AU and WHO
VENUE Luanda, Republic of Angola
DEPARTMENT
Social Affairs
CONTACT Collins Boakye-Agyemang, Communication Manager, WHO/AFRO email: boakyeagyemangc@ who.int Esther Tankou Azaa, AUC email: YambouE@africaunion.org
April 24
Open session of the Peace and Security Council on Silencing Guns: Pre-requisites for achieving a conflict-free Africa by 2020
Mandela Hall, AU Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Peace and Security
SITUATION ROOM Peace and Security Department; African Union Commission E-mail: ausituationroom@ yahoo.com; SituationRoom@africa-union. org;
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AU WEEKLY 17, April
23-25, April
Presidential Election in People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Special Session of the Labour and Social Affairs Commission of the African Union
Algeria
Political Affairs, Democracy and Electoral Assistance Unit
AkubuezeK@africa-union. org or DemekeT@africa-union.org
Windhoek, Namibia
Labour and Social Directorate of Social Affairs Affairs Dr. Olawale I. Maiyegun P.O.Box 3243 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel Off: (+251) 115 51 77 00 Ext 300 Director(+251) 115 51 35 22 Email: MaiyegunO@africaunion.org
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