April,8 2019, AU Headquarters- As the African Union gears up for the first-ever Mid-Year Coordination meeting set to be held in Niamey, Niger, it is all systems go as the AU commission sets the ground for the meeting that is expected to redefine the modus operandi for the continental organization. The African Union Commission, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are scheduled for a seminar in Cairo, Egypt, as part of the preparations for the upcoming Coordination Meeting in July 2019. Organized under the theme “The road to Niamey: Taking the Agenda of regional integration forward”, the Cairo meeting which kicks off on 11th April 2019, is part of the capacity building initiatives to enable the AU Commission, member states and the regional blocs articulate and sharpen a common understanding of the objectives set for the Mid-Year Coordination meeting.

Facilitated by the African Union Leadership Academy, the Cairo meeting is part of a series of sensitization and experience sharing seminars by the Academy, to strengthen the collaboration between the Commissions, the PRC and RECs, in aspects of joint planning, monitoring and evaluation and in resource mobilization, to drive further, the significant progress made in the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063. The meeting will deliberate on matters of regional integration that will enrich the process of developing a proposal on an effective division of labour among the AU, the RECs, the Member States, and other continental institutions.

The African Union Leadership Academy manager Dr. Muna Abdalla underscores the need for human and institutional capacity development as a critical component to drive the continental transformation process. She noted that the two-day Cairo meeting would be an opportunity to have frank deliberations and evaluation of the progress made at the national level, the regional blocs and the continental level, on fostering the integration agenda for socio-economic development. “These three levels have their own unique attributes and characteristic, and it is my conviction that we can use that diversity to drive the transformation agenda we seek. There is no shortcut to inclusive prosperity without a collective accumulation of our capacity”, Dr. Muna added.

The sensitization and experience sharing seminar comes in the wake of reaffirmed determination by African leaders to accelerate the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063 and the First Ten year implementation plan, following the adoption of a framework of institutional reforms in 2017. The reforms essentially seeks to reposition the continent to punctually reach her vision of the “Africa we want”, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the competitive global landscape and one that seeks to resolutely improve quality of life for the African citizenry.

The pathways for the institutional reforms have been elaborate to define the working methods of the African Union and led to the reduction of the African Union summits to one annual summit in the month of February complemented by a Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in the month of July. The agenda for the summit and Mid-Year Coordination meeting have also been made leaner and more focused on fewer priority areas that broadly speak to matters of political affairs, peace and security, economic integration and enhancing Africa’s global representation and voice.

To ensure effectiveness of delivery against identified priorities, the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government recommended that there should be a clear division of labour and effective collaboration between the AU, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), the Member States, and other continental institutions, in line with the principle of subsidiarity.

The Assembly further mandate the AU Commission, in collaboration with the RECs, AU organs, relevant continental organizations, to develop a proposal on an effective division of labour among the AU, the RECs, the Member States, and other continental institutions for submission to the First Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in July 2019.