Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 31 January, 2018-The Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) Amb. Kwesi Quartey held back-to-back bilateral meetings with the officials of five (5) of the African Union Organs (AU Organs) with a human rights mandate and one (1) Specialized Agency, following the 30th Ordinary Session of African Union Heads of State and Government.
These meetings provided opportunity to the Organs and the Agency, who had attended the Ordinary Session, to provide a brief on significant developments and advancements within their respective mandates and jurisdictions, as well as to discuss operational challenges that required the attention of the Commission.
The Deputy Chairperson received the Heads of Organs and Secretariats of the following AU Organs and Agency: The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) based in Midrand, South Africa; The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) based in Arusha, Tanzania; The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) based in Banjul, The Gambia; The African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC) based in Arusha, Tanzania; The African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and the Executive Director and a Senior Executive of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), a Specialized Agency of the African Union based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The overall conclusions of these meetings included the re-affirmation of the need to maintain the independence of AU Organs with a human rights mandate, the commitment of all AU Organs to implement the 2018 theme of the year “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”, emphasis on the critical role of AU Organs and Agencies to participate and support the ongoing institutional reform efforts of the Commission, the need to re-double promotion efforts to accelerate Member State ratification, implementation and respect for key human rights instruments.
The Deputy Chairperson highlighted the need for the Commission, the Organs and Specialised Agencies to strengthen the capacities of their institutions, to sharpen their strategic focus, and forge collaborative strategies, approaches, mechanisms and programmes to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services to the African citizenry. To this end, the Deputy Chairperson undertook that the Commission would convene a joint meeting of all AU Organs, within the first quarter of 2018, to review the policies and working methods of AU Organs to achieve greater collaboration, coherence and efficiency.
With regard to the African Capacity Building Foundation, the Deputy Chairperson complimented the Foundation on its good work in the continent in the area of institutional capacity building. He emphasized the pivotal role that education, skills-development and technical capacitation plays in the achievement of Africa’s developmental objectives, and thanked the Foundation for its continued support to various departments of the Commission.
For media enquiries Contact:
Doreen Apollos | Communication Advisor | Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson | E-mail: ApollosD@africa-union.org | Tel: +251 115182737
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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The African Union spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens. AU Vision: to accelerate progress towards an integrated, prosperous and inclusive Africa, at peace with itself, playing a dynamic role in the continental and global arena, effectively driven by an accountable, efficient and responsive Commission. Learn more at: http://www.au.int/en/
