Madam Chairperson of the PRC
Ladies and gentlemen Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives to the African Union,
Commissioners, Your Excellencies,
Heads of the Institutional Reform Unit of the AU
Directors and Heads of Autonomous Units of the Commission
Distinguished and Ladies and gentlemen
A Salaam Aleikum,
Allow me, on behalf of His Excellency the Chair, Dr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, to welcome you after long days of preparatory work in Addis Ababa, to Nouakchott, capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, to the thirty-sixth ordinary session of the Permanent Representatives Committee. On behalf of the Commission, I would like to thank our Host Head of State, the Government and the brotherly people of Mauritania, not only for the warm and friendly welcome we have all enjoyed since our arrival, but also for the monumental effort proudly crystallized today in this truly magnificent conference center designed and constructed much grace, aesthetic quality and functionality.
I would like, also, to welcome everyone to Nouakchott to for this Summit in this enchanting city.
Your Excellencies
Since the end of the 30th ordinary session of the AU Summit held in Addis Ababa in January 2018 in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the PRC, under the dynamic and exemplary leadership of its Chairperson, Ambassador Hope TUMUKUNDE GASATURA, assisted by our Bureau, the PRC and the Commission have followed a rhythm of work that been intense and productive. The impact of her commitment and leadership, commensurate with the PRC's critical role as the linchpin of the African Union, has been largely positive. I would, on behalf of our Chair and our Commission, like to thank our PRC for all their commitment and hard work we really do appreciate your critical work.
The evidence of this commitment is the heartening and encouraging collaboration and interaction of the Permanent Representatives in implementing the resolutions of the joint PRC-AU Commission on working methods during our joint retreat held in Cairo, the Arab Republic of Egypt, at the beginning of December 2017.
The preparation of 2019 budget which is being presented for your consideration and adoption is significantly different from how previous budgets have been prepared. This is a result of budgetary reforms that have been initiated within the AU.
You will recall that in January 2018 the Assembly took a decision to expand the committee of finance ministers from 10 members to 15 members. The assembly further directed that the F15 should sit jointly with the PRC and the Executive Council at both technical and ministerial levels to review the Unions budget proposal for consideration and adoption.
The assembly on the recommendation of the F15 also adopted nine golden rules as the underlying tenets for AU budget preparation and financial management.
The underlying rational for these very important decisions was to ensure the following
• That AU budgets are well scrutinized to ensure the highest standards in accountability and judicious application of AU resources
• That AU budgets are in line with the goals and objectives of the Union as agreed by the leadership.
Excellencies, in line with the above decisions the budget that you will be considering is the first budget of the union to be considered by a joint sitting of the F15 and the respective PRC subcommittee. The process has been very rigorous and I can say the that the inclusion of the F15 in the process has significantly impacted on the level of discussions on this budget that is different from the past.
The introduction of budget ceilings in accordance with the golden rules has also proven to be very effective in helping brought with it a level of scrutiny and rigor previously unknown. This am sure the members of the subcommittee will readily attest to.
the introduction of the budget ceiling for the first time also provided a clear framework for the deliberations on the budget taking into account the revenues and expenditure capacities of the commission and the organs.
this year’s process as intended has provided valuable lessons to the commission as the lead organ for financial management of the union and these lessons will be used to strengthen further our budgetary and financial management practices.
Excellencies,
The conclusions of the Cairo retreat, have been illustrative both in the work of the PRC and in the dynamism of collaboration between the PRC and the Commission. Indeed, the regularity of the meetings of the PRC, preceded by those of its enlarged Bureau, gave a new rhythm to the processing of the records and emphasized our common will to operate as two sides of the same coin. This spirit of consensus, nourished by the diversity of points of view, has always transcended divergences to signify that the new Africa that we are committed to building is an Africa of unity in diversity, a unity which is more variegated and yet more integrated, and more democratic and inclusive and that is the Africa we want.
Ladies and Gentlemen Ambassadors
Of course, not everything has been perfect. Your justified complaints are known. Some are recurrent and they drive our efforts to perform the tasks of your mandate more effectively and transparently. The working documents for your deliberations are sometimes not readily available within the prescribed deadlines. When they are, they are not always in all the working languages of the Union. It has even happened that some of the PRC subcommittees postponed the holding of their meetings because of the lack of availability of meeting rooms. Yet we know democracy and debate and constructive criticism is critical for the strengthening of our organization.
Together we will find solutions in a timely manner. I would like to invite the PRC to make known the spirit of accelerating the progress of the AU towards achieving the objectives set out in its Agenda 2063 to prevail over everything. The call to integration contains within it an admission that as a continent, we are not fully integrated. We therefore need to locate some of this phenomenon in history. I would like to suggest that we focus in the Berlin conference 1884/85.
Your Excellencies,
The centrality of the role of the PRC in the architecture of the various organs of the AU imposes on you, important obligations, as the interface between the Member States and the Commission to ensure, through quality information, convergence of views between the latter and the Commission in the best interests of the alignment and coherence of our actions. in this regard it is important to stress the need for interaction with the Commission within a balanced relationship, as the best means of pursuing the objectives set out in the Agenda 2063 calmly and effectively.
Therefore, we respectfully call for the 2019 budget to be examined in the light of two imperatives: accelerating the implementation of flagship continental-scale programs as vehicles for integration and substantially reducing the reliance of the African Union on funds of external partners.
We would like to draw your excellencies attention that in line with EX C 877 and 899 of 2016, the internal restructuring exercise of the of the commission has started. Under the first phase the Department of Administration and Human resource management is been restructured and decentralized into two departments (Human Resource Management and Administration) and two autonomous units. MIS and Safety and Security.
This is intended to significantly reduce the internal bureaucracy and end enhance effectiveness of delivery. The process will be completed by August after which the exercise will be extended to the other departments
Your Excellencies,
I cannot conclude without referring the harrowing sights of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean. These remind us that we need to govern better, and we need to govern better together. Let us mobilize permanently for the full success of the institutional reforms supposed to put our continent in a new geopolitical configuration. As such, we must sweep away the apprehensions that threaten to keep us captive in the present and adjust to the reality of a globalized world order in constant mutation.
Let us therefore pursue institutional reforms and work to render the being – THE AFRICA WE WANT. And finally, let us also congratulate our African team who are already making us proud at the ongoing world cup. We look forward to a Nigeria/Senegal final.
I wish you fruitful deliberations. Thank you for your kind attention