ECOSOCC CALL FOR APPLICATION FOR ELECTION INTO THE ECOSOCC INTERIM GENERAL ASSEMBLY

In furtherance of the Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.716 of July 2012, the Chairperson of the Commission established an Interdepartmental Committee for verification and appraisal of eligibility requirements for ECOSOCC membership. The Committee consists of representatives of Office of the Chairperson, Legal Counsel, Internal Audit, Finance, Conference, CIDO and the Strategic, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Departments.

Furthermore, the Commission solicited applications from African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for membership in the ECOSOCC General Assembly. The call for applications was opened over a period spanning 01 July to 30 August 2012, 15 November to 15 December 2012 and 15 June to 15 August 2013 respectively. A total number of three hundred and three (303) applications from forty-two (42) were received and assessed over three (3) different meetings of the Interdepartmental Committee. As a result, sixty-four (64) qualified applications were received from twenty-three (23) countries. Out of the sixty-four (64) qualified applications, fifty-five (55) CSOs applied at the national level, three (3) at the regional level and six (6) at the continental level.

However, the response did not attract a sufficient number and appropriate spread of candidates across the five regions of the continent for the conduct of ECOSOCC Election. The Commission expects that this fourth call will enable this process.

Consequently, and in order to allow for greater representation of CSOs from the fifty-four (54) African Union Member States and ensure regional balance, the Commission has decided to re-open the ECOSOCC registration process for a period of three (3) month. The deadline for the receipt of applications for elections into the Interim ECOSOCC General Assembly is extended to 30 June 2014.

In addition, the Commission also decided that the ECOSOCC General Assembly will be an interim body until a framework document on the modalities of Diaspora participation in the AU organs and activities is established.

The Commission hereby calls on African Civil society Community to take advantage of the new deadline to effectively participate in the electoral process.
ECOSOCC application forms can be downloaded from http://www.au.int/en/ or http://pages.au.int/ECOSOCC, filled and sent to the ECOSOCC Secretariat electronically or by post addressed to:

ECOSOCC Secretariat,
C/o African Citizens Directorate (CIDO),
African Union Commission,
P.O. Box 3243,
Addis Ababa – Ethiopia

Or

ECOSOCC E-mail: ECOSOCC@africa-union.org or auecosocc@gmail.com

Completed application forms together with all relevant documents should be returned to the Secretariat on or before 30 June 2014.

For more information and requests, kindly contact the ECOSOCC Secretariat: E-mail: ECOSOCC@africa-union.org or auecosocc@gmail.com