The 11th African Union (AU) Summit will be opened on Monday morning in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The following is a brief introduction to the AU.
HISTORY:
The establishment of the AU to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was founded in 1963, was envisaged at an African summit in September 1999 in Libya's Sirte, with a view to further African cooperation, development and integration. The Constitutive Act of the AU entered into force in May 2001 and the AU was formally formed in July 2002.
MEMBERS:
The AU has 53 members. Morocco is the only African country that is not a member. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was admitted to the OAU in February 1982, following recognition by more than half of the member states. But its membership was disputed by Morocco and some other states, which claimed a two-thirds majority was needed to admit the SADR. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in November 1985 and has not applied to join the AU. MAJOR ORGANS:
(1) The Assembly, comprising AU countries' top leaders or their accredited representatives, is the AU's supreme organ and meets at least once a year to determine and monitor the union's priorities and common policies and to adopt its annual work program.
Resolutions are passed by a two-thirds majority, while procedural matters by a simple majority.
A chairperson is elected from among the members to hold office for one year. The current chairperson is Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
The Assembly adopts the biannual budget and settles disputes between member states.
The first Assembly meeting was held in Durban of South Africa in July 2002.
(2) The Executive Council consists of ministers of foreign affairs and others and meets at least twice a year. It determines the issues to be submitted to the Assembly for decision, coordinates and harmonizes the policies, activities and initiatives of the union in areas of common interests to member states, and monitors the implementation of policies and decisions of the Assembly.
(3) The Pan-African Parliament, inaugurated on March 18, 2004, has consultative and advisory powers only, but with the aim of ultimately evolving into an institution with full legislative powers.
(4) The Commission is the permanent secretariat of the organization, comprising a chairperson, a deputy chairperson and eight commissioners responsible for peace and security, political affairs, infrastructure and energy, social affairs, human resources, science and technology, trade and industry, rural economy and agriculture, and economic affairs.
It reports to the Executive Council. The current Commission chairman is former Gabonese FM Jean Ping.