OAU was founded in 25th May 1963 with 32 independent members
present. Mainly for political integration through advocating for independence of
the then still colonised states in Africa. Since then the organization grew to
55 member states. The recent members include South Africa which joined the OAU
in 1994 after the end of Apartheid in April the same year, South Sudan which
joined AU in 27th July 2011 and Morocco which re-joined in January
2017 after dropping from OAU in 1984 following OAU’s acceptance of Western
Sahara as a member state. The 55 members of the current AU include,
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| African Union member States |
Purposes and principles of OAU included:
·
Promoting Unity and solidarity of African States
·
Coordinating and intensifying their cooperation and efforts
towards achieving better life for the people of Africa
·
Defending their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence
·
Eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa
·
Promoting international cooperation, having due regard to the
charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human rights.
The idea of transforming OAU came from Colonel Muammar Al
Gaddafi who called a conference in Libya
in September 1999 to push the idea of rebranding OAU after OAU had fulfiled its objective of liberation. Whether that neccesiated a name change is a story for another day. There was no economic,
political or social reason for rebranding this community except that leaders
were trying to emulate the European Union which was named after the European Economic
Community, after its former attained its objective. If only the name change
could mean that a Kenyan would feel at home in Central Africa Republic given
the difference in dialect, a Nigerian in South Africa and so forth, ‘Unity of Africa’ then today we wouldn’t be questioning the motive
towards the 2001 transition. AU was
adopted in May 2001 in Addis Ababa and was launched in July 2002 in South
Africa to deal with challenges facing Africa.
The
objectives of AU were different from those of OAU and included;
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| AU initiative represented by 20 member states |
•Defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member
States;
•
Accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;
•
Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the
continent and its peoples;
•
Encourage international cooperation,taking due account of the Charter of the
United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
•
Promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;
•
Promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good
governance;
•
Promote and protect human peoples’ rights in accordance with the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights
instruments;
•
Establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its
rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;
•
Promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as
well as the integration of African economies;
•
Promote cooperation in all fields of human activity to raise the living
standards of African peoples;
• Coordinate
and harmonise the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic
Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;
•
Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields,
in particular in science and technology; and
• Work
with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases
and the promotion of good health on the continent.
Some of the organs of AU include the panel of the wise, the peace and Security Council, the
administrative body; the AU Commission, the African Commission on Human and
People’s Rights, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development
Treaties
and Protocols
The OAU Charter adopted on 23 May 1963 and replaced by Constitutive Act of African Union signed
in July 2000 in Lome, Togo and entered into force after ratification by 53 member
States.
· Treaty Establishing the
African Economic Community (Abuja Treaty) adopted on 3 June 1991, entered into force on 12
May 1994.
· Protocol to the Establishing the African Economic Community
Relating to the Pan-African Parliament
adopted in March 2001 and entered into force in December 2003http://sameaf.mfa.go.th/en/organization/detail.php?ID=4495
· Protocol Relating to the Establishment
of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union adopted in July 2002
and entered into force in March 2017
·
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted
on 11 July 1990, and came into force in 1999
·
African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights adopted on 27 June 1981, entered into force on 21 October 1986.
·
Protocol to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court
on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted on 10 June 1998 and entered into force
in January 2004 and was replaced by the Statute
of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights on 1 July 2008.
·
Cultural Charter for Africa adopted on 5 July 1976, entered into
force on 19 September 1990.
· · African
Youth Charter adopted in July 2006 and entered into force in August
2009
· African
Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in January
2007 and entered into force in February 2012
· · Agreement
Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area adopted
in March 21st 2018 and entered into force in May 30th
2019.https://au.int/en/cfta
