African Union, Addis Ababa, 3rd October 2018: The African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Amb. Kwesi Quartey held a meeting with a number of development partners of the African Union to discuss and agree on a set of concrete actions that aim to properly align the support of the international partners to the programmes of the Union.
Amb. Quartey stated that ongoing reforms of the Union and the implementation of the Decision on Financing of the Union have significant and positive implications for cooperation with partners, as it means moving away from donor-recipient relations towards true partnership. This would allow the African Union to also leverage the comparative advantage of partners to realize jointly aspired results.
In recognizing that the path towards self-reliance and improved operational effectiveness is not without its challenges, the African Union partners reaffirmed their support to the objectives and programmes of the Union and the ongoing reforms. They however observed the need for closer collaboration in the process to ensure financial, human, and technical resources are properly aligned for better delivery on the objectives of the Union.
The Commission and the international partners intend to undertake a retreat for further deliberations and to strengthen their relations.
The African Union has made great strides in the driving the financial reforms as it seeks predictable and reliable funding from members states reducing over-dependence on Partners. In July 2018 at the African Union Summit in Nouakchott, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Union approved a total of $681.5 million for the 2019 budget, signaling a substantial decrease of the annual budget by 12%, compared to the previous year.
Related article- Financial reforms at the African Union lead to massive cuts of the Union’s Budget. https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20180706/financial-reforms-african-union...
An Extraordinary Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government to deliberate and review the progress on the AU Reforms is scheduled for November 2018. Administrative and financial reforms of the Commission is a central part of the reform process.
Related article- The Sixth Retreat of the Executive Council kicks off at the African Union Headquarters
https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20180912/sixth-retreat-executive-council...

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