Prior to the Summit, the Centre for Citizens’ Participation in the African Union (CCP-AU) has organized a continental conference on the African union summit on January 23rd and 24th 2008.
The main objective of this continental conference was to create a platform where structured debate and collation of views are made among stakeholders across the continent focusing on issues of the Union Government, the performance review of the AU, Peace & Security, EPAs and other eventual issues on the Summit agenda. The Continental Conference presented a communiqué including CSOs’ to delegations attending the Summit.
The CCP-AU has strongly supported the audit for regular, inclusive and periodic audits in the future and recommends the AU to take action of the first audit. Additionally, the CCP-AU have spoke out for a CSO-managed coordinating body to support the linkages between the AU and African CSOs and conduct a people’s audit of the AU at the end of each five-year AU Commission term. With regard to the Union Government, the CCP-AU agrees that ‘the Union Government must be a union of the African people and not merely a Union of States and Governments. Therefore, it calls the AU to accelerate its capacity to raise common policy standards, popularise its mission and more effectively including ECOSOCC and other CSOs within Union Government.The CCO-AU recognizes that the AU is a significant facilitator in promoting peace and security on the African Continent, and therefore should stand up in the cases of Kenya and Chad. The EPA’s have been also discussed during the conference. According to the CSO’s the AU should promote alternatives such as everything but arms (EBA) agreements or GSP Plus as alternatives to EPAs.
The next CCP-AU meeting will be taking place before the next AU Summit in Eygpt.
