AU HOLDS executive diplomatic education seminar FOR AFRICAN diplomatic corps

Midrand, South Africa 27 September 2016 - The African Union is holding a seminar aimed at enhancing understanding of the African Union and strengthening the skills relevant to its statutory operations. The seminar which is being held in  Midrand, South Africa is organised by the African Union Leadership Academy as part of a wider executive training programme for members of the diplomatic corps. 34 members of the AU’s Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) are taking part in the seminar which is facilitated by renowned African scholars and experts from the African Union Commission.

 The seminar aims at strengthening the African Union’s capacity for driving and achieving the goals of Agenda 2063 by providing members of the PRC with a unique opportunity to reflect on their experience and interaction with the AU. In particular the seminar aims to:

·           Create more awareness and importance of various instruments that are relevant to Agenda 2063.

·           Re-examining the role and responsibilities of AU and member states in supporting the AU drive towards achieving Agenda 2063 goals

·           Sharing of, and learning from, challenges and success stories

 Issues under discussion include: impact of the organisation’s history on its functioning; Africa Peace and Security Architecture, preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention; enhancing the effectiveness of the African Union; reflections on the continental Agenda 2063 and the African Union as a norm entrepreneur and African Union democracy instruments.

At the opening event session held on Tuesday 27th September Ambassador Jean Mfasoni, Adviser to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, remarked that “In order for the AU, its Member States and its organs to contribute effectively to this vision (Agenda 2063) and to fulfil the set mandates, there is a need to have a common understanding on how to get there and the respective responsibilities of each party. This experience sharing seminar will help us towards this direction.”

 The seminar is important as the PRC is a crucial decision making and oversight body of the African Union, which acts on behalf of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and the Executive Council. It has responsibilities inter alia, of facilitating communication between the AU Commission and member states, considering the AU’s budget and monitoring the implementation of the AU’s budget. In this regard, it is critical to the implementation of the programmes and projects under the continental Agenda 2063 development framework, which aims to achieve the AU vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa by 2063.

The workshop concludes on the 29th September.

  About the African Union Academy

The African Union Leadership Academy was officially launched at the 26th AU Summit in January 2016. The vision of the Academy is to become a high level Pan African learning and development agency driving capacity building solutions towards the process of realization of Agenda 2063. The Academy aspires to work in concert with Member States, and relevant institutions worldwide, in developing and delivering innovative capacity building solutions for the AU decision-making, policy and program development within the framework of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. The academy focuses on giving its target groups the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their performance in order to build positive and steady results that feed directly into Agenda 2063. Accordingly it offers unique, hands-on, high-engagement learning opportunities for leaders to understand and adopt new behaviors and ideas, network with peers, learn from a world-class faculty and enhance their own capabilities. The Academy has so far successfully implemented 3 batches of learning, and sharing of experience, policy dialogues and training for 90 officials from the AU and Member States.

 For media inquiries contact:

Wynne Musabayana | Deputy Head of Division | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int|Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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