Concept of African Unity lives on today
By Ambassador Mahmoud Kane
May 25, 2008 — When Emperor Haile Selassie addressed the delegates to the African summit conference in Addis Ababa on 25th May 1963, he voiced the hopes and dreams of an entire continent. “May this convention last 1,000 years,” he proclaimed.
That gathering of 32 heads of state in the Ethiopian capital resulted in the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Forty-five years later, the AU, as the OAU became in 2001, is in robust health as we celebrate Africa Day, the anniversary of its birth, recalling the 2008 theme on meeting the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation.
The OAU was a different creature to the AU we know today. Among its original aims and objectives were putting an end to colonialism and the eradication of minority rule in the Southern African region and supporting freedom fighters in the liberation struggle.
Five decades on, the nature of the challenges facing Africa has evolved dramatically. The political struggle that was the lifeblood of the OAU has been fought and won.
How has this greatest expression of African union developed over the past 45 years? Some things, of course, haven’t changed. Across the continent, for example, the dreams of pan-African unity remain strong.
Elsewhere, political attitudes have been transformed. One of the greatest adjustments has been in the field of intervention. The fundamental principle of non-interference in internal disputes, one of the defining aspects of the OAU’s charter, has been consigned to history. Today, African leaders among the 53 member states have embraced the concept of African solutions to African problems.
You don’t need to look far for examples of this revolution in thinking and practice. It is there for all the world to see in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur where the AU’s Peace and Security Council has played a transformative role in establishing the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).
The story began on 8 April, 2004, when the government of Sudan and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) signed a humanitarian ceasefire agreement in the Chadian capital of N’djamena. On 28 May 2004, a further agreement in Addis Ababa formalized the AU’s role in Darfur and AMIS was born.
From modest beginnings in June 2004, when the first military observers were deployed, AMIS grew impressively, from 465 personnel to around 7,000 when its mission formally ended on 31 December 2007 and authority was transferred to UNAMID, the joint UN/African Mission in Darfur. And with the evolving situation on the ground, its responsibilities increased and its size expanded to address a wide spectrum of needs.
In fact, the range of its work in Darfur has been truly exhaustive. AMIS personnel have monitored the ceasefire agreement, deployed civilian police officers selected from 18 African countries, secured frontiers to prevent cross-border attacks, protected innocent men, women and children in and around the camps for Internally Displaced Persons, disseminated the Darfur Peace Agreement to the people of Darfur and engaged in a host of other activities promoting peace, security, human rights and humanitarian assistance in this unstable region.
AMIS confounded the dire predictions of its critics and mounted a robust, successful operation in Darfur that saved lives and made a difference. Every African can be proud of what it achieved against the most daunting odds.
The AU’s success in Darfur is well known in the international community. There has been far less coverage of its activities elsewhere in the Sudan, above all in the equally critical peace process between the north and south, a role which dates back to 2002. Its prominence as an honest broker was reinforced in 2005, when the AU was invited by the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A to be a guarantor of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Its commitment to the Sudanese peace process ever since has been unwavering, as evidenced by the decision in August 2007 to appoint a Special Envoy and open AU liaison offices in Khartoum and Juba.
Last March, the Head of the AU’s Liaison Office in Khartoum was appointed. Indeed, the establishment of the Liaison Office has been driven by our collective conviction that the people of Africa have suffered for far too long from violent conflicts.
You can see the AU’s dedication to this country in its ministerial committee on post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan, a vital initiative chaired by South Africa that draws together Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, Kenya, Sudan, Senegal, and Nigeria. Member states will assist in areas such as institutional development, public service, the judiciary, law and order, education and health, especially immunization and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Earlier this year, the Ministerial Committee met President Omar Al- Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir and received comprehensive updates on the peace processes in the Sudan. Further meetings in Sudan followed, led by Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commission, and Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security.
Looking ahead, the AU will do its utmost to secure durable peace in Sudan, by helping create the appropriate environment to encourage the southern Sudanese to vote for unity of the country in the referendum in 2011. We believe peace in Sudan is the cornerstone of peace across the region. And we believe that without peace it will be impossible to reach the ambitious targets on water and sanitation here.
Today we commend the men and women from all corners of our beloved continent who served with AMIS and those who work hard for peace between north and south today. They embody the great concept of African unity that lies at the heart of the AU and which we celebrate together today on Africa Day.
The author is the Head of AU Liaison Office in the Sudan