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Afroflag Youth Vision, a network of youth organisations, and Oxfam GB recently held discussions at the Axum hotel in Addis Ababa on the African Union’s proposal to establish continental government. 150 participants from mainly local NGOs, universities, international organisations, and embassies, and national and international media attended the event.

Three presentations clarified the implications of the AU proposal. Desire Assogbavi, Oxfam GB, pan-Africa senior policy analyst provided a brief analysis 'AU Study on the Continental Government towards the United States of Africa'.

Dr Tim Murithi, senior researcher, Direct Conflict Prevention Programme, Institute of Security Studies (ISS), presented a paper 'From Pan Africanism to the Union of Africa'. Derese Getachew, lecturer in sociology and social anthropology, Addis Ababa university, presented a paper 'African Citizenhood and Challenge to realize the United States of Africa'.

Participants expressed concerns about the timing, feasibility and lack of citizens’ involvement in the process of establishing a union government. For most of the participants, this was the first time they had heard of the proposal. They felt that integration and/or unity of the continent should start from the bottom - the people, not from the top - with heads of states. A true African citizen must identify with and be able to move freely within the continent. African Union member states must also establish common standards of democracy and human rights, before establishing a union government.

Further, conflicts within and across national borders continue to plague the continent. The current AU must demonstrate a greater capacity to resolve ongoing conflicts on the continent. Though participants did not reject the idea of establishing a union government, they were concerned that the timeframes for achieving the proposal were too ambitious. However, a first step towards achieving unity would be to rationalise existing Regional Economic Communities.

More importantly, there needs to be more media involvement and coverage, especially in local languages, to promote greater awareness and involvement of the public in the process of establishing union government.