by Hopewell Radebe and Chengetai Madziwa – SANF 05 no 59
It will be a heavy agenda for the African Union Summit this week in Libya as leaders deliberate on wide-ranging issues including the situation in conflict-stricken countries, UN reforms and the inaugural peer review report.
During the summit, heads of state and government will review the report of the Peace and Security Council on its activities and the state of peace and security in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and Ivory Coast.
There is growing optimism on the humanitarian situation in Sudan’s Darfur region, as well as positive steps on peace initiatives that are being negotiated in Ivory Coast. Similarly, DRC’s constitutional and electoral processes are moving forward, albeit slower than originally planned.
DRC had planned to have elections in June but logistical hitches have resulted in the poll being delayed by six months. A draft constitution is soon to be put before a referendum, while voter registration is underway in the capital Kinshasa and is expected to expand to the rest of the vast central African country.
As part of efforts to avoid future conflicts, the AU has proposed establishment of early warning systems that will inform the body’s Security Council to dispatch the continent’s peace army and hopefully prevent further conflict in Africa.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is in the process of building its own standby force, which will be part of the bigger African peacekeeping force. Progress report on the formation of the regional standby force is expected at SADC’s historic Silver Jubilee Summit in Botswana on 17-18 August.
In addition, the African leaders will discuss the proposed United Nations (UN) reform. A committee of African foreign ministers formed to discuss Africa’s official position on the reform of the UN Security Council has made recommendations that will be discussed in Libya.
Africa is proposing, among other issues, two permanent seats for the continent as part of the reformed UN Security Council. The names of the countries and the structure of rotating the seats are yet to be announced.
Further, the AU summit is expected to hear the report of the executive council on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ahead of the UN Millennium Review Summit in September.
The summit is expected to undertake a comprehensive review of the progress made towards the commitments articulated in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, including the internationally agreed development goals and the global partnership required for their achievement.
The heads of state and government are expected to pronounce on the first report of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, focusing on the lessons learnt in four countries (Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Rwanda) that welcomed the opportunity to be the first inline for the peer review process.
The process is likely to encourage the subsequent batch of the five countries (Algeria, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, and South Africa) scheduled to submit to the review.
The make-up of the second group of countries will mean that the APRM has graduated to a continental initiative, with the inclusion of northern and southern African states in this group.
While the first group had a heavy central African bias, the submission of South Africa, Mozambique and Algeria to the peer review process will add impetus to the initiative and widen its coverage of the continent.
The inclusion of Mali and Senegal will also extend the influence of the mechanism to the turbulent West African region, with the experience of Ghana in the first peer review process proving to be a valuable asset.
The summit will evaluate the progress report from the leaders that were elected to lobby the meeting of the world’s eight most developed countries at Gleneagles in Scotland to open the world trade system; increased aid effectiveness; increased levels of aid; and debt relief.
Addressing the Fourth World Chambers Congress in Durban mid June, South African President, Thabo Mbeki, urged international business delegates to issue a common message to the leaders of the G8 meeting next month requesting them to act decisively to “erase the ugly scar of poverty and underdevelopment” from Africa.
Every year, the International Chamber of Commerce delivers a statement on behalf of world business to the heads of state and government attending the annual G8 Summit.
“We should also communicate a common message that it is in the interest of international business to ensure market access for developing countries because this will accelerate the necessary growth of entrepreneurship and business in these developing countries,” said Mbeki.
Mbeki also stressed that the G8 should agree to a timetable to do away with agricultural subsidies.
All these issues including the essential need for development programmes and economic synergy between regions will be in the 2005 AU summit agenda. It will hold the hopes of African communities all over, desperate for peace, democracy and economic prosperity. (SARDC)
