African Union (AU) Archives

Why the Awaza Declaration Could Rewrite the Future for the World’s Landlocked Nations

The theater of diplomacy can be more revealing than the speeches. Under a scorching Caspian sun in Awaza, two marines lowered their flags with the precision of a ballet. The green silk of Turkmenistan, folded into a neat bundle before the UN’s blue-and-gold standard, fluttered briefly and vanished into waiting hands.

Africa’s ‘Land-Linked’ Nations Chart a New Trade Route to Prosperity

By Kizito Makoye

Once relegated to the periphery of Africa’s economic map due to their lack of coastline, the continent’s landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are now reframing their geographic constraints as gateways to opportunity.

Faith on the Frontlines: New Military Chaplain Programme Reaches Soldiers in Africa

By Farai Shawn Matiashe

It is a cold morning in eastern Zimbabwe as Lieutenant Colonel Reverend Doctor Samba Mosweu celebrates a glorious moment he has been waiting for all his life.

African Union, Nations Lay Bare Climate Vulnerabilities at UN’s Top Court

By Joyce Chimbi

Kenya agrees with many UN member states testifying before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the law of international responsibility should hold countries legally responsible for major damage to the global climate system.

Investing in Teachers, School Leaders Key in Keeping Girls in School UN-African Union Study Finds

By Maina Waruru

Investing in teachers and school leaders in Africa is the most important factor in promoting educational opportunities for girls, keeping them in school and ending child marriage, ultimately reducing gender inequality through education.

Insurance Scheme Offers Hope for Drought-stricken African Farmers

By James Reinl

A partnership between United Nations and African Union (AU) agencies will help African economies insure themselves against the droughts and other extreme weather events that plague the continent, organisers say.

As Sudan Struggles, AU Should Press for Justice and Accountability

By Carine Kaneza Nantulya

On June 6, the African Union (AU) suspended Sudan from the 55-member group with “immediate effect.” The move came in response to a deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters in Khartoum, in which government forces, led by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), tore through a sit-in in the capital killing at least 108 people, and wounding hundreds. The AU’s decisive action has been widely applauded, but suspending Sudan is not enough.

Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy

By Mahawa Kaba Wheeler

The blue economy has quite rightly been described as the ‘New Frontier of the African Renaissance’. Its potential for a continent on which almost two thirds of its states have a coastline, whose trade is 90 percent sea-borne and whose lakes constitute the largest proportion of surface freshwater in the world, is enormous.

More Women Owning Agricultural Land in Africa Means Increased Food Security and Nutrition

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage

Despite women being key figures in agriculture and food security, gender inequality is holding back progress towards ending hunger, poverty, and creating sustainable food systems.

Uncertain Future for “Diabolic” Free Trade Pacts Between EU and Africa

By Daan Bauwens

In the run-up to the fifth EU-Africa summit in Côte d'Ivoire, the future of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Europe and its former colonies looks bleaker than ever. While most of Europe’s trade partners around the world keep refusing to sign the deals, the African Union’s Commissioner for Trade will most likely announce a moratorium on all EPAs.

Q&A: We Won’t Go Far Until Climate Issues Are Mainstreamed in Policy

By Charles Mkoka

Two years ago at the 31st African Union Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, heads of state and government endorsed the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) programme on agriculture and climate change with the bold vision of at least 25 million smallholder households practicing Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) by 2025.

Africa: Resolved to Address African Problems Using African Solutions

By Baher Kamal

The African Union (AU) representing 54 countries and home to 1,2 billion inhabitants, will be in Istanbul to participate in the May 23-24, 2016, first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) with two key demands—that the international humanitarian system be redefined, and a strong, firm own commitment to itself, to the continent and its people, anchoring on the primacy of the states.

African Union Takes Stock of 51 Years as Terrorism Spreads Across Continent

By Jeffrey Moyo

As the African Union is set to celebrate its 51st birthday on May 25, it does so as the continent remains caught up in a tide of terrorist conflicts, which many analysts feel the AU has done little to resolve.

Political Wrangling Stymies CAR Peacekeeping Force

By Samuel Oakford

Budget constraints in Washington and obstinacy at the highest levels of the African Union (AU) have combined to dangerously delay a possible U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to sources close to negotiations currently underway in New York.

Not Enough Money to Bring Peace to CAR

By Matthew Newsome

There are growing concerns that the massive funding crisis for peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic (CAR) will jeopardise any prospect of restoring stability to the country.

CAR’s Sectarian Strife Worsens Despite French, AU Troops

By Samuel Oakford

Reports of horrific revenge killing continued to emerge from the Central African Republic Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Security Council voted to increase the international troop presence there and levy sanctions against those it suspects of war crimes.