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AFRICAN UNION
UNION AFRICAINE
UNIÃO AFRICANA
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA P. O. BOX 3243 TELEPHONE: 011-551 7700
FAX: 011-551 7844, WEBSITE: www.africa-union.org
Statement by the Chairperson of the African Union
Commission, HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to the
24th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of
Heads of State and Government
30 January 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Mheshimiwa, Mohamed Ould Abdel Azizi, Rais wa Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya
Mauritania na Mwenyekiti wa Umoja wa Afrika;
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government of the Member States
of the African Union;
President Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, His
Majesty, the King of Spain and His Excellency, the Prime Minister of
Sweden, Mr. Stefan Löfven
Excellencies, Former Heads of State, former Secretaries General and
Chairperson of the OAU and AU
Mheshimiwa, Ban Ki Moon, Katibu Mkuu wa Umoja wa Mataifa;
Excellencies, Members of the Executive Council and other Ministers;
Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha and AU Commissioners,
Your Excellencies, Heads of AU Organs, and other International agencies;
Excellencies, Ministers and leaders of delegations from partner countries
Excellencies, Heads of African Regional Economic Communities and
African Union Specialised and Representative offices;
Excellencies, members of the Permanent Representatives Committee;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished invited guests;
Waheshimiwa, Mabibi na Mabwana;
Waafrika wenzangu,
Ninayo heshima kwa mara nyingine tena kuhutubia Mkutano wa Wakuu wa
Nchi na Serikali, na ningependa kumpongeza Mheshimiwa Rais wa Libya,
Rais wa Mauritius, Rais wa Msumbiji, Rais wa Namibia, Rais wa Tunisia na
Rais wa Zambia kwa kuchaguliwa kwao kuongoza nchi zao. Kamisheni ya
Umoja wa Afrika inatarajia kuwa na uhusiano mzuri na ninyi katika kufanya
kazi.
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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen
We meet at the start of a year when the world faces a historic point: as it
agrees on what to do about climate change, about the post 2015
development agenda, and as it reflects on twenty years since the Beijing
Women’s Conference.
Thus, whilst the rest of the world has the luxury to choose to stay where
they are or move East, West, South or North, Africa has neither the time
nor the choice: we must move in one direction —and that is forward and
upwards!
Fifteen years ago, as the world welcomed the new millennium, Africa was
referred to as the 21st’s Century’s development challenge at best and a
hopeless continent at worst. As Africans, we chose to see the start of the
millennium as the start of the African century.
We should however be aware of the new global threats such as terrorism,
insecurity and climate change that also threatens the African Century. On
the one side of our continent we have a drought in the Sahel, whereas in
the eastern side we have floods in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.
Terrorism, in particular the brutality of Boko Haram against our people, the
senseless killings, the destruction of property, the enslavement and sale of
our people, our girls kidnapped and married and the terrorization of villages
are a threat to our collective safety, security and development.
This, along with the senseless killings of our people, has now spread
beyond Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad and Niger and requires a response that
is collective, effective and decisive to achieve the desired results.
As we discuss the situations in Somalia, Libya, Mali, South Sudan and
DRC, we should remind ourselves that on the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of the OAU, we vowed that we shall not bequeathed war and
violence to the next generation of Africans.
We also need a coordinated and collective responses to other threats such
as modern slavery in the guise of human trafficking; poaching, illegal
logging and fishing, and the destruction and plunder of African natural
resources.
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It is imperative that we deny space to those who are bent on destroying the
lives and prospects of Africans. This will require concerted efforts to unite
our people. The core of our solution rests in our ability to speedily
champion tolerant, accountable, democratic and inclusive political cultures,
and inclusive social and economic development.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Despite these challenges, and even as downward gale-force winds
continue to buffet the world, Africa has been climbing, a step at a time, up
the steep cliff towards peace, prosperity and the restoration of the dignity of
our people.
It was this resolve to be in charge of our destiny, which informed our
decision in the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration to develop Agenda
2063 “through a people-driven process for the realization of our vision for
an integrated, people-centred, prosperous Africa at peace with itself. “
We present Agenda 2063 for adoption today, after months of consultations
and outreach to all sectors of African society. We are confident that the
aspirations in Agenda 2063 reflects the voices of the African people and
her Diaspora, united in diversity, young and old, men and women, from all
walks of life.
Excellencies,
2015 is also 60 years since the 1955 Bandung Asian-African conference, a
turning point of world history when for the first time representatives of the
former colonized nations united and proposed alternatives to a world order
dominated by superpowers.
Sixty years on, the issues that served before Bandung - of peaceful
coexistence amongst nations, the struggle for development and a just
world order - are still relevant today, albeit in a changed world, with its
threats of extremism and intolerance, of disease, inequality between and
within nations, feminization of poverty, gender-based violence and climate
change.
But, it is also a world of opportunities with technological advances that can
help leapfrog development, and changes in the economic landscape of the
world.
It is this changing world - with threats and opportunities - that Africa
navigates as it finalizes its vision for the next fifty years.
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Our generations of Africans, young and old, men and women, face the
challenge to fulfill the mission we set ourselves.
I dare say, we are the generations that will eradicate poverty, disease and
hunger, as we set out to do in our Common African Position on post-2015
development. We are the generation that shall manage diversity and
silence the guns.
Agenda 2063 is therefore a call to action – to governments, civil society,
academics and private sector; continental and regional bodies, the
Diaspora, Africans of all ages, men and women alike.
Our aspirations and the concrete programmes in Agenda 2063 are very
clear: to diversify our economies and industrialise; to have a skills and
entrepreneurial revolution, unleashing the creativity and energy of our
young people, and to effect an agricultural and agro-processing
transformation, so we can feed ourselves and contribute to feeding the
world.
We shall connect Africa through aviation, railways, highways, ICT, energy
and the seas. At Malabo, you gave us the mandate to explore Agenda
2063 flagship projects. We are therefore tackling the African infrastructure
backlog, utilizing state of the art technology to leapfrog development and
through smarter partnerships.
We discussed the importance of energy during the US-Africa Leadership
Summit in August last year; the EU-Africa Summit agreed to strengthen cooperation on human development; and we have just concluded a
Memorandum of Understanding with China on rail, highways, aviation, and
industrialization.
We want to make a special appeal on aviation: that we need to move
decisively towards the creation of a single African aviation market, as
envisaged by the Yamoussoukro Declaration. It not only makes economic
sense, but it is also a key driver towards continental integration. We call on
countries to be bold, and be prepared to take the first step.
The large number of elections in the coming year is an opportunity to
present our people and countries with a vision for a different tomorrow. We
must continue to conduct our elections peacefully, freely and fairly, with
respect for the will of the people.
We must invest in our people - their health and education, access to water
and sanitation - and build resilience and public health systems in order to
defeat diseases like Ebola, as well as malaria and HIV.
We once again thank the health workers of the AU-ASEOWA mission, its n
leader General Julius Oketta, and the governments and peoples of the
countries who sent them to help our brothers and sisters in Guinea, Liberia
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and Sierra Leone. We must continue to support them, until these countries
are Ebola free.
We thank the African private sector for their partnership with us in the fight
against Ebola, and particularly the mobile network operators, who through
the continental SMS campaign enables Africans to contribute. Over thirty
countries have joined the SMS campaign, and we invite those that have not
yet done so to join.
We must continue to mobilise our people to contribute to the campaign and
to keeping health workers on the ground, until the countries are officially
Ebola free.
We must also call for the cancellation of their debts, as they prepare for
their social and economic recovery.
Excellencies,
We will present a progress report to the Assembly on the first 10-year plan
for the implementation of Agenda 2063. Key to this remains the issue of
resource mobilisation for the implementation of our continental vision, plans
and institutions.
The Ministers of Finance and Economic last year acted on the mandate of
the Assembly and engaged on the proposals for the implementation of
Alternative sources of Financing the AU and its organs. They will report on
their work.
During the 50th Anniversary Summit, on recommendation from President
Obasanjo and his high level panel on alternative sources of funding, the
Assembly decided to establish the African Union Foundation, and we will
launch it today.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is befitting that the year we adopt Agenda 2063, is also the Year of
Women’s Empowerment and Development.
During 2015, we shall take our continental programme of gender equality
and women’s empowerment to a higher level: by ensuring that women are
at the table in conflict resolution and peace building; by increasing the
representation of women in public life; through the economic empowerment
and financial inclusion of women; and by modernizing agriculture, and
addressing women’s access to land, technology, markets, infrastructure,
and capital.
Agenda 2063 commits to empower young people, as innovators, citizens
and entrepreneurs. I am pleased to announce that the Pan African
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Parliament will cohost the 2014 Annual AU Intergenerational dialogue,
which we started during the 50th Anniversary.
In November last year, I was very proud to attend the graduation of the first
group of Masters students at the Pan African University Institute for
Science and Technology in Nairobi, Kenya. These graduates are an
example of what our young people are capable of, if given an opportunity.
In their two years at the PAU, they had a near 100% pass rate, published
research articles in journals, and one of them registered a patent.
They, and thousands of young innovators and entrepreneurs, are an
embodiment of what we can achieve if we invest and give Africa’s young
men and women the opportunity to help shape the destiny of our continent.
During the Year of Women, we must pay special attention to the girl child,
making sure that they are all in and remain in school, that we end child
marriages and female genital mutilation, teenage parenthood and harness
the potential of both boys and girls.
In conclusion,
As we move towards implementation of Agenda 2063, we must adopt
collective and cooperative approaches to the threats of peace and security.
Let us be relentless about African economic development and strengthen
partnerships with the African private sector.
I am confident that working together, we shall create a peaceful, integrated,
people-centered and prosperous Africa.
Asanteni sana
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