On the heels of the High Level Panel’s invitation for e-submissions, the AU Monitor urged African civil society and citizens to contribute to the process of a “Peoples’ Audit of the AU”. This week, the AU Monitor brings you the perspective of Charles Mutasa, AFRODAD Executive Director and Deputy Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC, which provides critique and analysis of ECOSOCC, along with a policy brief from AfriMap that provides recommendations for open, democratic and transparent AU policies and processes as well as a call from the Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund for the AU to increase its outreach, support and contribution to the African Diaspora.

Furthermore, heeding the call for a written submission before the completion of the panel’s first draft of their report, a joint preliminary civil society statement was formulated and endorsed by over twenty civil society organisations and coalitions working in over thirty countries. The high-level panel extended the days on which they were to convene, according to their working agenda, in order to hear the submission which was presented by a delegation of civil society representatives: myself, Hakima Abbas of Fahamu’s AU Monitor initiative, Eyob Balcha of Afroflag Youth Vision, Faiza Mohamed of Equality Now and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR), and Alioune Tine of Recontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO).

During the meeting, we delivered the joint statement and provided reference documentation, including, the CSO Accra communiqué and the executive summary of the report Towards a People-Driven African Union. The floor was then given to each civil society representative to elaborate on the recommendations of the statement based on their areas of expertise. Eyob Balcha delivered a statement from a youth perspective in which he recommended the creation of an AU institutional framework through which the participation of African youth is mainstreamed in continental decision-making processes, including the inclusion of youth representatives in national delegations; the creation of a permanent continental youth body responsible for engagement with sub-regional and national youth initiatives; and the practical implementation of the agreed decisions and provisions of the African Youth Charter.

Following Eyob’s presentation, Faiza Mohamed offered recommendations and insight to the panel from a gender perspective. She recommended that the Commission be provided a mandate to monitor and report on the implementation of AU decisions by member states and that the AU consider imposing sanctions on member states that do not deliver on their commitments to ratify and domesticate the AU/OAU protocols. Also, noting that the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) is under-resourced and that it has been a year since the position of director of the Directorate remains vacant, she urged the review panel to investigate the effects of such a lack of leadership on programs. She also recommended that the fifty-fifty gender balance policy of the African Union be strictly and promptly implemented at the Commission and that Member States be urged to consider implementing this gender balance in its representation at the Permanent Representatives Committee and Executive Council of the African Union.

Lastly, Alioune Tine addressed the panel regarding the need for democratic participation and governance with in the African Union. He noted the difficulties civil society have had in accessing important information, in obtaining visas for participation in AU summits and other meetings and the lack of public spaces within the AU compound itself (comparing the space to the United Nations building). He sited as an example of lack of information that, despite his organisation being a member of ECOSOCC, he was unaware, until his arrival in Addis, of the continental elections taking place on Monday October 31st. He noted that an example of successful partnership between civil society and the AU was participation in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. However, he also noted that the criteria for observer status that requires organisations to be funded with a majority of resources derived from its membership is not realistic for most African NGOs. Finally, Alioune noted that the AU must take into further consideration geographic and linguistic spread in all its meetings so as to ensure that nobody is excluded based solely on our colonial experiences.

As the floor was opened to questions from the panel, further elaboration was requested and provided on access to information via the website, which we considered largely insufficient. For example, amendments to the consultative act are not available on the AU site and the ECOSOCC website is not up to date. In addition, it was noted that the media should have stronger interface with the AU so that information is popularised at the national level not just through the Internet (to which many do not have access) but also through TV, radio and print. The panel was reminded that the legitimacy of civil society is often based on a public mandate and that while we do not equate civil society with citizenry, we believe that a strong civil society interface with the AU will enable greater implementation of decisions at the national level. In addition, the panel were made aware of the public consultations that were held in ten countries in advance of the Accra summit that informed the CSO communiqué from Accra. In terms of ECOSOCC we brought attention to the fact that the Interim President of the General Assembly was not given official space to present her report at the last summit and that such disregard by Heads of States reflects badly on the potential policy influence of the council. More detail was presented regarding SOAWR activities and organisations as an example of how successful civil society engagement can push AU treaty processes forward and drive national implementation. In regard to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, we noted that there is a civil society coalition that has been very active in driving ratification and that complimentarity is needed vis a vis the protocol of the Court and the Commission – indeed, that it is necessary for there to be a thorough review of the complimentarity of treaties and protocols across the board. Lastly we remarked that civil society itself has taken the lead to strengthen our engagement with the AU, citing as an example that the AU Monitor was set up by a range of civil society organisations, though now led by Fahamu, to provide news, information and analysis to a broad range of organisations and citizens across Africa.

The Chairperson noted civil society’s commitment to engaging the audit process and reiterated that further documentation would be welcomed throughout the process. He also ensured us that the recommendations and ideas from civil society and citizens would be duly taken into account in the drafting processes.