AU Weekly April 27th 2015 by Desire Assogbavi

AU WEEKLY ...keeping you updated April 27th, 2015

HIGHLIGHTS Governance

Social Justice 

Oxfam Hosts UHC Discussion on sidelines of first meeting of Specialized Technical Committee on Health and Drug Control

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Dr. Zuma Appoints New Heads of African Union Liaison Offices

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AUC Deploys Election Observation Missions to Togo and Benin

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AUC Deploys Long-Term Mission to Ethiopia

Observers

Peace and Security 

Civil Society to Tackle UN Security Council Reform

Understanding the AU 

Economic Justice 

Continental Free Trade Area Negotiations to be Launched Soon

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G20 Summit: Robert Mugabe to Represent AU

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Africa's Resource Curse

Department of Political Affairs

Upcoming Events 

Africa Climate Resilient Infrastructure Summit

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Specialized Technical Committee on Communication and Information and Communication Technologies

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Trade Experts Meeting

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25th African Union Summit

Follow us on: Facebook - Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union: OI-AU Twitter - twitter@oxfam_AU Disclaimer: Views or articles presented in this publication are solely those of the media source and do not represent Oxfam’s views

AU-Weekly Published by Oxfam Liaison Office to the AU 1

AU Weekly

Social Justice Oxfam and Partners Host UHC Discussion on Sidelines of First Meeting of Specialized Technical Committee on Health The First Meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug Control (STC-HPDC-1) was held from April 13th –17th 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme “Universal and inclusive access to health care”. Sustainable development and security challenges in Africa were addressed. During the meeting, the AUC Director of Social Affairs, Dr. Olawale I. Maiyegun, highlighted that “health is an intrinsic human right as well as a central input to poverty reduction and socioeconomic development’’. He also gave an overview of the impact of illicit drug production, trafficking and consumption on human lives especially youth. Oxfam, Save the Children and the International Committee of the Red Cross organized a parallel side event for Health Ministers, entitled “Universal Health Care: Strengthening healthcare systems in the wake of the Ebola crisis”. Speakers highlighted the urgent need for all countries to build resilient health systems, learn from the Ebola crisis and pass laws to enact Universal Health Coverage. Following the presentations the Deputy Minister of Health from Sierra Leone, and the heads of delegations from Liberia and Guinea provided their responses. The Deputy Minister of Health from Sierra Leone agreed that the reason for the Ebola crisis was weak health systems. He went on to explain the Ministry’s multi-year plan to build a more resilient healthcare system, incorporating six fundamental elements . The Nigerian Head of Delegation remarked on the value of Oxfam’s recommendation for financing robust health information systems . Further reading: http://sa.au.int/en/STC-HPDC

Peace and Security Civil Society to Tackle UN Security Council Reform The rise in transnational threats such as terrorism and cybercrime are straining national capacities and calls for an effective and legitimate UNSC. Many UN Member states, academics, and civil society organizations have called for the UNSC to be reformed, but progress has been held back by politics. In response, the Institute of Security Studies has proposed a global initiative in which civil society and ordinary citizens can work together to advocate for a specific set of fair and equitable proposals to amend the UN Charter. The initial set of reform proposals are now online and support is requested from all civil society organisations around the world. Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/civil-society-to-tackle-un-security-councilreform 2

AU Weekly

Economic Justice Continental Free Trade Area Negotiations to be Launched Soon

G20 Summit: Robert Mugabe to Represent AU President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe and the chairperson of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Macky Sall, will represent the African Union (AU) at the next Summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) in Antalya, Turkey, from November 15t16,, 2015. President Mugabe and Dr. Sall will be there as part of the G20’s outreach programme to non-members of the G20. They will focus on increasing development financing for Africa.

The 4th Meeting of the Continental Task Force (CTF) took place from April 10th -13th 2015 in Dakar, Senegal. This was organized by the Department of Trade and Industry of the Africa Union Commission in preparation for the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiations at the Heads of State and Government Summit to be held in June 2015. Experts deliberated on preparatory issues and reviewed key technical documents that will enable the Assembly to launch these very significant CFTA ne- Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/issgotiations. The CTF will then finalize their drafts Africa's Resource Curse of these technical documents to be submitted to the meetings of Trade Experts, Senior Trade Officials and the Meeting of African Union Min- New research by the Institute for Security Studisters of Trade scheduled from May 08th – 15th ies (ISS) highlights the challenge of eradicating poverty within the Post-2015 Sustainable Devel2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. opment Goals Framework and in the African UnFurther reading: http://ti.au.int/en/cfta/events/ ion’s Agenda 2063. To succeed, the interests of local communities in resource-rich areas should continental-task-force-continental-free-tradebe a top priority, since these communities are the true custodians of the resources. In the extractive industry, ISS calls for more inclusive, transparent and accountable governance with coordination among stakeholders . Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/isstoday/communities-key-in-countering-africasresource-curse

AU Weekly

Governance Dr. Zuma Appoints New Heads of African Union Liaison Offices New Special Representatives and Heads of African Union Liaison Offices were appointed on April 8th 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the AUC Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The appointed heads are: 

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Brigadier General Sara Thomas Rwambali (Tanzania), Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office in South Sudan, with residence in Juba; Madame Josephine-Charlotte Mayuma Kala (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office in Côte d’Ivoire, with residence in Abidjan; Madame Zaina Nyiramatama (Rwanda), Head of AU Liaison Office in Chad, with residence in Ndjamena; and Dr. Arvin Boolel (Mauritius), Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region and Head of the AU Liaison Office in Burundi, with residence in Bujumbura.

Further reading: http://cpauc.au.int/en/content/appointment-special-representatives-and-headsafrican-union-liaison-offices

AUC Deploys Election Observation AUC Deploys Long-Term Observers Missions to Togo and Benin to Ethiopia The African Union Commission Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has approved the deployment of African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOM) to Togo and Benin, to oversee presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for April 25th and 26th 2015 respectively. The AUEOM in Togo will be led by Mr. Kabiné Komara, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea while the AUEOM team in Benin will be led by Mr. Dioncounda Traoré, former Interim President of the Republic of Mali. Further reading: http://pa.au.int/en/content/ african-union-observe-togo-s-25th-aprilpresidential-election-and-benin-s-26th-april2015-%20parliamentary-elections

On April 20th 2015, the AUC Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma approved the deployment of an African Union Long -Term Observation (LTO) Mission to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections scheduled for May 24th 2015. The LTOs team arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on April 19th where they will assess the conduct of the election until June 7th 2015. Further reading: http://pa.au.int/en/content/ auc-chairperson-approves-deployment-africanunion-long-term-observers-ltos-mission-ethiopia

AU Weekly

Understanding the African Union Department of Political Affairs Background The Department is the Commission’s body responsible for promoting good governance, democratic principles, the rule of law and respect for human rights, as well as the participation of civil society organisations in the development of Africa. Key work includes promoting these AU shared values; implementing AU instruments on governance, elections, democracy and humanitarian affairs; coordinating AU election observation and monitoring missions; providing technical support to the electoral bodies; coordinating implementation of the African governance architecture and its platform; and implementing sustainable solutions to humanitarian and political crises, including through preventive diplomacy. The Department has two divisions: Democracy, Governance, Human Rights and Elections; and Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.

Mandate The Department of Political Affairs has been a strategically important department within the Organisation of Africa Unity (and the African Union) since its inception in 1963. The mandate of the department is to contribute to an effective political environment within and among African countries, as well as at an international level, that is conducive to bringing about sustainable development and accelerating economic integration of the continent.

The main objectives of the Department of Political Affairs are to: 

Advocate for and assist in ensuring that all African countries respect human rights;

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Work towards emergence of democratic institutions and sustained popular participation throughout the continent;

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Encourage transparency and accountability in public affairs, political, economic and cultural areas with a greater involvement of the civil society and the private sector;

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Devise ways and means of finding durable solutions for problems of refugees and addressing the causes and symptoms of humanitarian crises;

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Monitor election processes on the continent.

Commissioner: Aisha Abdullahi Director: Khabele Matlosa

AU Weekly

Upcoming Events April

27-29 May

04-08 May

Event:

Africa Climate Resilient Infrastructure Summit (ACRIS)

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Contact: http://www.enticoevents.com/acris/ Event:

Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Communication and Information and Communication Technologies (CCICT-1)

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Contact: http://www.au.int/en/CCICT Event:

Trade Experts Meeting

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

08-15 June

Contact: Mr. Batanai Clemence Chikwene, Trade Policy Officer Email: ChikweneB@africa-union.org

Event:

25th African Union Summit

Venue: Pretoria and Johannesburg S.A

07-15

Contact: http://summits.au.int/en/25thsummit/accreditation

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