The African Union (AU), was founded in July 2002, and is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Modeled after the European Union (EU), it aims to help promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa, especially by increasing foreign investment through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) programme.
Goals for the African Union include an African parliament and a central development bank. As with its predecessor, the OAU, the African Union is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Pan-African Parliament opened officially September 16, 2004, in South Africa. The African Union has 53 members. Morocco is the only African nation that is not a member; the reason being that they oppose the membership of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara). Morocco still claims and occupies most of Western Sahara despite Western Sahara being recognized by the UN and most of the world as a sovereign nation.
It is the view of Club Africa that the OAU was a disastrously ineffective and corrupt organization, with a few token achievements here and there. Only one big achievement can be credited to the efforts of the OAU; the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. Other than that, the OAU failed to address the most pertinent cause of Africa's under achievement: wanton corruption, nepotism, theft and mismanagement of fiscal resources leading to bloody ethnic & regional conflicts. We hope that the AU is not just the "same wolf in sheep's clothing", so to speak ....if so, what a waste of resources and time this
endeavor
would be!
We hope that our leaders will open up their minds for we desperately need to reconstruct our thoughts, our priorities, our politics, and a laundry list of other issues, most notably the HIV/AIDS scourge - which kills over 6,500 people each day in Africa, leaving millions of children orphaned and the workforce severely depleted. This devastation requires special attention. It must be curbed if Africa is to survive!
For more information, please click here to visit the official website of the African Union. Get Pan African News in our portal.
Experts on the AU and it's functions are welcome to discuss issues on our forums. If you have relevant articles that you would like us to publish on our website, please feel free to contact us.
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