- As African state leaders today launch the new Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) at a summit in Ethiopia, world leaders hail the strengthened African efforts to address its own problems. The fighting and ethnic cleansing in Darfur tops the Council's agenda.
- Nobody will build Africa in our place, said Alpha Omar Konaré, Chairman of the African Commission and ex-President of Mali in his opening statement launching the African Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa today. "Nobody will establish lasting peace in Africa in the place of Africans," Mr Konaré added.
This clear message was repeated by several speakers at the Council's launch. "Africans are seeking solutions to their own problems," said for example Said Djinnit, the AU's Peace and Security Commissioner. If there was a genocide going on in one country, he could however not guarantee that Africa would have the capacity to decisively stop it. "But I tell you the African Union, African Leaders and troops will move" to stop an ongoing genocide, he added.
The AU's new Peace and Security Council is launched at a moment as there is growing concern over a possible genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. The fighting in Darfur therefore was set at the top of the Council's agenda. An AU fact-finding mission is already sent into Darfur and the Council is preparing to deploy an African ceasefire monitoring team.
Observers however doubt that the Council will take decisive action against Sudanese authorities even if genocide preparations in Sudan should be disclosed. The AU has a long tradition of not alienating its member countries while cracking down on rebel or separatist movements.
The Peace and Security Council nevertheless is set to play an important role in maintaining peace in Africa. It will focus on developing a common defence policy for the continent and building a continental defence force, which mainly will be used in peacebuilding or peacekeeping missions.
In that concern, the AU already heads peacekeeping missions in Burundi and Congo Kinshasa. It will further lean on the long tradition of West Africa's military cooperation, which has led larger operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone to rid these countries off rebel movements.
The most important means of the new Council will however be the use of diplomacy to prevent and resolve military conflicts throughout the continent. Here, it will draw upon successful peace mediation experiences in conflicts such as the Eritrean-Ethiopian border war, the civil wars in Congo Kinshasa, Burundi and Comoros - in addition to ongoing mediations surrounding the conflicts in Somalia, Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan.
Mr Konaré in his speech explained that the AU's Peace and Security Council is composed of 15 elected member states and is a permanent organ, which is "requested to promote peace, security and stability in Africa, preventive diplomacy and restoration of peace." It also is to deal with the "management of disasters, humanitarian actions and post-conflict reconstruction," he added.
The AU leader urged the Union to "mark a radical break from the past" to enable the new Council to "meet the aspirations of the African peoples for peace, security and defence." African states therefore needed to "demonstrate their remarkable political will to free the tool they have established from crushing external dependence."
As the Peace and Security Council today officially was launched, it has been hailed by world leaders as an important tool to improve the living conditions of Africans at large and as a clear signal of African will to solve its own problems.
The move is believed to increase the international credibility of African government and create greater willingness to aid Africa from the outside world. This was underlined in a speech by Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, the current Chairman of the AU, who formally launched the Council today. "We expect an increasingly positive attitude from the international community, even recognising that the primary role is played by ourselves, Africans," said Mr Chissano.
An indication that the Mozambican President was right was given by the large number of prominent international leaders, witnessing the inauguration of the new Council in the Ethiopian capital today. This included representatives of the UN Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and of the Commission of the European Union (EU), Commissioner Poul Nielson.
The EU has already pledged to contribute strongly to the financing of the new Council. In a statement issued today by its current Irish Presidency, the EU said it "warmly welcomes" the establishment of the Council. The statement added the EU was "determined to work with Africa in supporting [the Council] and helping to build up African capabilities for addressing and resolving conflicts, including through deployment of African peacekeeping missions."
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español