The African Union (AU) is an international intergovernmental organization. Objectives, Member States

The modern world is a multipolar community. It is widely known such intergovernmental association of the countries of Europe, as the European Union. By analogy with this community, the countries of Africa have created their territorial formation - the African Union.

Date creation of the organization

The date of establishment of the organization has not yet been unequivocally established. The world community recognizes the union's birthday on July 9, 2002. The participants of the association consider the foundation date of May 26, 2001. Why did such a discrepancy arise?

The decision on the formation of the African Union was adopted in September 1999 at an emergency meeting of the heads of African states in Libya (in the city of Sirte). The following year they approved the act on the establishment of the AU at a summit in Lomé (Togo) and announced the creation of an alliance. In May 2001, fifty-one African countries ratified the AU Education Act. So the first date appeared.

The 37th OAU Assembly in July of the same year in the city of Lusaka (the capital of Zambia) approved the basic documents that characterize the legislative basis and structure of the new organization. The establishing charter replaced the OAU Charter, which remained the legal basis for the entire transition period from AOE to AC (last year). On July 9, 2002, the AU summit was held for the first time, which was held in Durban (South Africa). It elected Thabo Mbeki the president of South Africa the first president of the African Union. Europeans consider this date the beginning of the history of the African Union.

The reasons for the formation of the union

The African Union is the largest organization of the African continent. The reasons for its emergence grew out of the economic and political changes that occurred in the world after the formation of the first inter-state association of African countries.

After achieving independence by seventeen African countries in 1960, known as the "Year of Africa", their heads decided to act together to solve the problems that had arisen. In the distant 1963 the countries united their efforts within the framework of the Organization of African Unity. The primary goals of the political inter-state association were: the protection of national independence and territorial integrity of states, the development of cooperation between the countries of the union, the solution of territorial disputes, interaction in all spheres of life, the focus on international cooperation.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, most of the goals set were fulfilled. Due to drastic changes in the framework of international cooperation, new tasks have arisen for the African countries. On the basis of the OAU, it was decided to create a successor with new goals. Today's economic situation in Africa requires the search for new and effective mechanisms to resolve emerging problems.

The main difference

The African Union has developed and started the implementation of the economic program NEPAD (the first letters of the English name "New Partnership for Africa s Development") - "The New Partnership for Africa's Development". The program implies the long-term development of states on the basis of integration between themselves and equal cooperation with the countries of the world community.

The transition of the union from the priority of political goals to economic bases, as history shows, will have a beneficial effect on the solution of the existing problems of African countries. This refers to the main difference between OAU and AU. The economic interaction of states is planned without attempts to change the current political and administrative division.

Purpose of the organization

The primary goal is the economic integration of the countries of Africa. Economic and political cooperation, coupled with the strengthening of solidarity at the international level, is aimed at achieving the goal of protecting sovereignty and creating optimal living conditions for the peoples of Africa.

Main goals

To achieve these goals, the main activities identified as tasks of the African Union are highlighted. The first place is the development and strengthening of the integration of African countries in the socio-economic and political spheres. For its implementation, the second task is required: to protect the interests of the population of the continent, promoting them to the international level. From the first two follows the following task, without which it is impossible to fulfill the previous ones: ensuring the peace of all the countries of the continent and their security. And the final task: to promote the formation of democratic institutions and the protection of human rights.

Member States of the Union

To date, the African Union includes fifty-four states. Considering that fifty-five countries and five unrecognized and self-proclaimed states are located on the African continent, this is practically all countries in Africa. The Kingdom of Morocco does not enter into the Union of African States in principle, explaining its refusal by an illegal decision of the Union to join Western Sahara. Morocco considers this territory its own.

Countries in the African Union were not at the same time. Most of them were the founders of the Organization of African Unity in 1963. After the transformation of the OAU, they all moved to the African Union. In 1963, on May 25, the Union included countries: Algeria, Benin (before 1975 Dahomey), Burkina Faso (before 1984, Upper Volta), Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast (before 1986, Ivory Coast), Madagascar, Liberia, Mauritania, Mali, Libya, Morocco (withdrew from the Union in 1984), Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Nigeria, Tunisia, Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia. In December of the thirteenth of the same year, the country of Kenya entered the OAU.

An increase in the union to the size of the

In 1964, Tanzania entered the OAU - on 16 January, Malawi on 13 July, and Zambia on 16 December. The Gambia joined in October 1965, Botswana on October 31, 1966. 1968 joined the ranks of the organization with three more countries: Mauritius, Swaziland - September 24, 1968, Equatorial Guinea - October 12. Botswana, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau joined the association on October 19, 1973. In 1975, Angola joined in - on 11 February, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe of Cape Verde, Comoros on 18 July. June 29, 1976 the union was supplemented by the Seychelles. Djibouti joined the rest of the states on June 27, 1977, Zimbabwe (the country of poor millionaires, as it is called) - in 1980, Western Sahara - on February 22, 1982. The nineties again led to an increase in the membership of the Organization of African Unity: Namibia entered in 1990, on 24 May 1993 Eritrea became a member, on 6 June 1994, the Republic of South Africa. The last state that received membership already in the African Union on July 28, 2011, was South Sudan.

Diversity of participating countries

The AU includes countries that in their socio-economic development are at different stages of development. Let's characterize some of them.

The country of Nigeria is not inferior to other countries in Africa first place in terms of population. However, it is only at the fourteenth place in the area of its territory. Since 2014, the state has become an advanced oil producer on the continent.

Guinea-Bissau - one of the poorest countries in the world, ranks among the top five. Rich deposits of oil, bauxite and phosphate are not being developed. The main occupation of the population is fishing and rice cultivation.

The poorest country is Senegal. Development of deposits of gold, oil, iron ore and copper is weak. The state survives on humanitarian aid coming from abroad.

Cameroon is a country of opposites. On the one hand, this is a state with significant oil reserves, which ranks eleventh among oil producing countries in Africa. This allows us to call the country a self-sufficient state. On the other hand, half of its population is below the poverty line.

Fundamental principles

The relevance of armed conflicts between countries led to the formation of the basic principle of the AU. Transnational corporations and the local elite are interested in obtaining the right to own and dispose of deposits of various minerals on the territory of the states of the continent. To prevent possible armed conflicts, the rule was adopted to recognize the state borders of the members of the union, which they established for the time they reached independence.

The Union took upon itself the right to direct interference in the affairs of the member states of the organization, if the decision is taken by two-thirds of all members of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. Such a decision and subsequent deployment of the AU forces is possible in case of manifestation of genocide against certain peoples, committing crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Tradition and Innovation

The new principle is that heads of government, who have come illegally to power, are not allowed to work in the AU. For the countries-infringers the number of sanctions is stipulated, beginning from deprivation of a voice on Assembly and finishing with the termination of economic interaction. The measures are aimed at increasing the responsibility of the heads of state.

On the international scene, the AU adheres to the principle of cooperation and non-alignment proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.

Structure of authorities

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government is at the head of the highest authorities of the African Union and is convened once a year. The executive committee is dominated by the AU Commission. For the election of the chairman of the AU and the chairman of the AU Commission elections are held once a year. The OAU has a peculiar tradition: the head of the state in which the summit took place is the chairman of the African Union. The structure of the authorities implies the selection of the All-African Parliament (UAP).

The judiciary is headed by the Union Court, for which the country of Nigeria became the place of location. To solve all-Union problems, the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund, and the African Investment Bank have been established. As necessary, the Assembly has the right to organize specialized technical committees to resolve urgent issues. So there was a union on issues of economics, social policy and culture. In 2010, troops were formed, replacing the initially established regional multinational troops.

The Commission of the African Union has eight members. Women make up the overwhelming majority (five out of eight). The Regulation on the UAS recommends the introduction of two women among the five mandatory deputies from each member state of the union.

The Lead Center and the Administration of the African Union are based in Ethiopia in the city of Addis Ababa.

Prospects for the development of the African Union

The twenty-first century seeks to avoid unforeseen situations, paying ever more attention to the formation and development of supranational structures. Today, international intergovernmental organizations are turning into centers for directing efforts to solve global problems of our time. Integration of African countries, which in their majority are classified as the poorest, is called upon to unite efforts to eliminate the causes of the beggarhood.

The AU replaces the two international intergovernmental organizations that existed before it: the OAU and the nuclear power plant (the African Economic Community). The operation of the NPP, designed for thirty-four years (since 1976), could not cope with the negative consequences of globalization. The situation is called for by the AU.