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Governance challenges in Africa
A public lecture and discussion on the occasion of ECDPMs 20th anniversary, and first Maastricht Debate
130 participants at official kick-off
More than 130 participants took part in the first Maastricht Debate on 19 December in the Bonbonnière. Mr. John Shinkaiye gave an interesting insight in the role and functioning of the African Union in which he stressed the policy of non-indifference of the Union. It may intervene in its member states in order to assure peace and security. Miss Gertrude Mongella, President of the Pan-African Parliament focused on the accountability of the current leadership in Africa in which the parliament, being still a young institution – founded in 2004 – wants to play an important role. The other discussant was João Gomes Cravinho, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal. The public lecture and discussion on Governance challenges in Africa and the role of the African Union was organised by the European Centre for Development Policy Management, ECDPM.
This was the first debate within the new series of the monthly 'Maastricht Debates', a collaborate initiative of University Maastricht (www.unimaas.nl), the Netherlands Chapter of Society for International Development (SID, www.sid-nl.org), Europe-open (www.europe-open.info) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM, www.ecdpm.org).
By creating the African Union in 2000, African leaders gave a clear signal to the international community that the continent was assuming a strong responsibility for it's own development. In only 5 years, the African Union has produced some concrete results in the area of peace and security, international relations (EU, China, Latin America...) and the promotion of democratic governance structures in Africa at pan-african, regional and national levels. The African Union Commission (AUC), based in Addis Ababa and led by Alpha Oumar Konare, former President of Mali, is playing a key role in facilitating these complex African change processes. However, The AUC is not master of the game. Other players, including African national states, influence the nature and outcomes of its work.
The lecture by Ambassador Shinkaiye, Chief of Staff of President Konare, focused on the achievements so far and constraints to the current functioning of the AU and the African governance challenges for the future so as to ensure a smooth functioning of the African Union.