From Africa Recovery, Vol.15 #3, October 2001, page 22

Transforming the Organization of African Unity into the African Union

"Guided by our common vision of a united and strong Africa," the continent's leaders have decided to transform the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into a new, more ambitious African Union. The July summit in Lusaka, Zambia, was to be the OAU's last. According to the Constitutive Act of the AU, African leaders acknowledge the need to "build a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society," to combat the scourge of conflicts, and to "promote and protect human rights, consolidate democratic institutions and culture, and to ensure good governance and the rule of law."

After years of growing realization that the OAU's structures - first set up in 1963 - were not up to the task, African leaders first issued a call for the formation of the African Union in Sirte, Libya, in September 1999. The next OAU summit in Lomé, Togo, then adopted the Constitutive Act and submitted it for signature and ratification by the OAU's 53 member states. After obtaining ratification from two-thirds of the membership, the AU was officially proclaimed in March 2001.

Although legally in existence, the AU and its various institutions remain to be built. Leaders gathered in Lusaka mainly to discuss the transitional and preparatory steps needed before the first AU summit, to be held next year in South Africa. Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, the long-time OAU secretary-general, was replaced by Mr. Amara Essy, a former foreign minister of Côte d'Ivoire (and a former president of the UN General Assembly), who will lead the transition. The main changes will include:

• Creating the AU's key organs, among them an Assembly, Executive Council, Commission, and Permanent Representatives Committee
• Incorporating and bolstering the existing Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, which the OAU established in 1993
• Elaborating the structures and responsibilities of a Pan-African Parliament. Such a parliament was first approved in the protocol to the 1991 Abuja treaty establishing an African Economic Community (which came into force in 1994), but its specific details, including the election of representatives, will need to be worked out
• Determining the structures and criteria for membership in an Economic, Social and Cultural Council, comprising non-governmental organizations, socio-economic and professional associations and civil society groups
• Laying the basis for a Pan-African Court of Justice
• Outlining the duties and functions of various specialized agencies and technical committees of the AU.

See related articles:
[ New African Initiative stirs cautious hope ]
[ African initiative challenges the UN ]
[ 'We will determine our own destiny' ]

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