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Social Justice Oxfam Hosts UHC Discussion on sidelines

of first meeting of Specialized Technical

Committee on Health and Drug Control

Peace and Security Civil Society to Tackle UN Security Council

Reform

Economic Justice Continental Free Trade Area Negotiations

to be Launched Soon

G20 Summit: Robert Mugabe to Represent

AU

Africa's Resource Curse

Governance

Dr. Zuma Appoints New Heads of African Union Liaison Offices

AUC Deploys Election Observation Mis-sions to Togo and Benin

AUC Deploys Long-Term Observers Mission to Ethiopia

Understanding the AU Department of Political Affairs

Upcoming Events Africa Climate Resilient Infrastructure

Summit

Specialized Technical Committee on Com-munication and Information and Commu-nication Technologies

Trade Experts Meeting

25th African Union Summit

April 27th, 2015

HIGHLIGHTS

...keeping you updated

AU WEEKLY

AU-Weekly Published by Oxfam Liaison Office to the AU

Disclaimer: Views or articles presented in this publication are solely those of the media source and do not represent Oxfam’s views

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AU Weekly

Social Justice

Oxfam and Partners Host UHC Discussion on Sidelines of First Meeting of Spe-cialized Technical Committee on Health

The First Meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug Control (STC-HPDC-1) was held from April 13th –17th 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme “Universal and inclusive access to health care”. Sustainable development and security challenges in Africa were addressed. During the meeting, the AUC Director of Social Affairs, Dr. Olawale I. Mai-yegun, highlighted that “health is an intrinsic human right as well as a central input to poverty re-duction and socioeconomic development’’. He also gave an overview of the impact of illicit drug production, trafficking and consumption on human lives especially youth. Oxfam, Save the Children and the International Committee of the Red Cross organized a parallel side event for Health Ministers, entitled “Universal Health Care: Strengthening healthcare sys-tems in the wake of the Ebola crisis”. Speakers highlighted the urgent need for all countries to build resilient health systems, learn from the Ebola crisis and pass laws to enact Universal Health Coverage. Following the presentations the Deputy Minister of Health from Sierra Leone, and the heads of delegations from Liberia and Guinea provided their responses. The Deputy Minister of Health from Sierra Leone agreed that the reason for the Ebola crisis was weak health systems. He went on to explain the Ministry’s multi-year plan to build a more resilient healthcare system, incor-porating six fundamental elements . The Nigerian Head of Delegation remarked on the value of Oxfam’s recommendation for financing robust health information systems . Further reading: http://sa.au.int/en/STC-HPDC

Civil Society to Tackle UN Security Council Reform The rise in transnational threats such as terrorism and cybercrime are straining national capacities and calls for an effective and legitimate UNSC. Many UN Member states, academics, and civil socie-ty organizations have called for the UNSC to be reformed, but progress has been held back by poli-tics. In response, the Institute of Security Studies has proposed a global initiative in which civil soci-ety and ordinary citizens can work together to advocate for a specific set of fair and equitable pro-posals to amend the UN Charter. The initial set of reform proposals are now online and support is requested from all civil society organisations around the world. Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/civil-society-to-tackle-un-security-council-reform

Peace and Security

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G20 Summit: Robert Mugabe to Represent AU

President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe and the chairperson of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Macky Sall, will repre-sent the African Union (AU) at the next Summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) in Antalya, Tur-key, from November 15t16,, 2015. President Mugabe and Dr. Sall will be there as part of the G20’s outreach programme to non-members of the G20. They will focus on increasing develop-ment financing for Africa. Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/iss-

AU Weekly

Economic Justice

Africa's Resource Curse New research by the Institute for Security Stud-ies (ISS) highlights the challenge of eradicating poverty within the Post-2015 Sustainable Devel-opment Goals Framework and in the African Un-ion’s Agenda 2063. To succeed, the interests of local communities in resource-rich areas should be a top priority, since these communities are the true custodians of the resources. In the ex-tractive industry, ISS calls for more inclusive, transparent and accountable governance with coordination among stakeholders . Further reading: http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/communities-key-in-countering-africas-resource-curse

Continental Free Trade Area Negotia-tions to be Launched Soon The 4th Meeting of the Continental Task Force (CTF) took place from April 10th -13th 2015 in Dakar, Senegal. This was organized by the De-partment of Trade and Industry of the Africa Union Commission in preparation for the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) nego-tiations at the Heads of State and Government Summit to be held in June 2015. Experts delib-erated on preparatory issues and reviewed key technical documents that will enable the As-sembly to launch these very significant CFTA ne-gotiations. The CTF will then finalize their drafts of these technical documents to be submitted to the meetings of Trade Experts, Senior Trade Officials and the Meeting of African Union Min-isters of Trade scheduled from May 08th – 15th 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Further reading: http://ti.au.int/en/cfta/events/continental-task-force-continental-free-trade-

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AU Weekly

Governance

Dr. Zuma Appoints New Heads of African Union Liaison Offices

New Special Representatives and Heads of African Union Liaison Offices were appointed on April 8th 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the AUC Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The ap-pointed heads are:

Brigadier General Sara Thomas Rwambali (Tanzania), Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office in South Sudan, with residence in Juba;

Madame Josephine-Charlotte Mayuma Kala (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office in Côte d’Ivoire, with residence in Abidjan;

Madame Zaina Nyiramatama (Rwanda), Head of AU Liaison Office in Chad, with residence in Ndjamena; and

Dr. Arvin Boolel (Mauritius), Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region and Head of the AU Liaison Office in Burundi, with residence in Bujumbura.

Further reading: http://cpauc.au.int/en/content/appointment-special-representatives-and-heads-african-union-liaison-offices

AUC Deploys Election Observation Missions to Togo and Benin The African Union Commission Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has approved the de-ployment of African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOM) to Togo and Benin, to over-see presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for April 25th and 26th 2015 respec-tively. The AUEOM in Togo will be led by Mr. Kabiné Komara, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea while the AUEOM team in Benin will be led by Mr. Dioncounda Traoré, for-mer Interim President of the Republic of Mali. Further reading: http://pa.au.int/en/content/african-union-observe-togo-s-25th-april-presidential-election-and-benin-s-26th-april-2015-%20parliamentary-elections

AUC Deploys Long-Term Observers to Ethiopia On April 20th 2015, the AUC Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma approved the deploy-ment of an African Union Long -Term Observa-tion (LTO) Mission to the Federal Democratic Re-public of Ethiopia for the upcoming Parliamen-tary Elections scheduled for May 24th 2015. The LTOs team arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on April 19th where they will assess the conduct of the election until June 7th 2015. Further reading: http://pa.au.int/en/content/auc-chairperson-approves-deployment-african-union-long-term-observers-ltos-mission-ethiopia

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Department of Political Affairs

Background

The Department is the Commission’s body responsible for promoting good governance, demo-cratic principles, the rule of law and respect for human rights, as well as the participation of civil so-ciety organisations in the development of Africa. Key work includes promoting these AU shared val-ues; implementing AU instruments on governance, elections, democracy and humanitarian affairs; coordinating AU election observation and monitoring missions; providing technical support to the electoral bodies; coordinating implementation of the African governance architecture and its platform; and implementing sustainable solutions to humanitarian and political crises, including through preventive diplomacy.

The Department has two divisions: Democracy, Governance, Human Rights and Elections; and Hu-manitarian Affairs, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.

Mandate

The Department of Political Affairs has been a strategically important department within the Or-ganisation of Africa Unity (and the African Union) since its inception in 1963. The mandate of the department is to contribute to an effective political environment within and among African coun-tries, as well as at an international level, that is conducive to bringing about sustainable develop-ment and accelerating economic integration of the continent.

The main objectives of the Department of Political Affairs are to:

Advocate for and assist in ensuring that all African countries respect human rights;

Work towards emergence of democratic institutions and sustained popular participation throughout the continent;

Encourage transparency and accountability in public affairs, political, economic and cultural ar-eas with a greater involvement of the civil society and the private sector;

Devise ways and means of finding durable solutions for problems of refugees and addressing the causes and symptoms of humanitarian crises;

Monitor election processes on the continent.

Commissioner: Aisha Abdullahi

Director: Khabele Matlosa

AU Weekly

Understanding the African Union

6

Disclaimer: Views or articles presented in this publication are solely those of the media source and do not represent Oxfam’s views

Event: Africa Climate Resilient Infrastructure Summit (ACRIS)

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contact: http://www.enticoevents.com/acris/

Event: Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Communication and In-

formation and Communication Technologies (CCICT-1)

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contact: http://www.au.int/en/CCICT

Event: Trade Experts Meeting

Venue: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Contact: Mr. Batanai Clemence Chikwene, Trade Policy Officer -

Email: ChikweneB@africa-union.org

Event: 25th African Union Summit

Venue: Pretoria and Johannesburg S.A

Contact: http://summits.au.int/en/25thsummit/accreditation

Follow us on: Facebook - Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union: OI-AU

Twitter - twitter@oxfam_AU

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