Pretoria - South Africa has received a country award for achieving the economic emancipation of women, the Presidency said on Tuesday.
The award was bestowed during a ceremony at the conclusion of the 27th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), which was held in Kigali, Rwanda. The summit was held under the theme ‘2016 African Year of Human Rights with a particular focus on Women's Rights.’
The AU says human rights, especially women’s rights, remain the cornerstone of South Africa's policy frameworks such as the National Development Plan, which is in line with the AU Agenda 2063 vision.
Security matters in Africa
During the summit, AU Heads of State and Government discussed strategic and urgent matters such as peace and security on the continent, especially in South Sudan; sustainable financing of the AU; regional integration and progress on achieving the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by 2017 and United Nations reform.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma attended an urgent meeting of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to deal with the conflict between the rival parties - the SPLM-in-Government led by President Salva Kiir and the SPLM-in-Opposition led by Vice President Riek Machar.
According to the Presidency, representatives attending the meeting agreed that the conflict cannot be allowed to continue and that African leaders should ensure that the peace process and the people of South Sudan are protected. It was further decided that the two rival military forces should be separated and disarmed.
President Zuma said the issue of South Sudan is a priority for South Africa, partly because the SPLM has been very close to the ruling African National Congress and other former liberation movements on the continent.
“As the youngest country on the continent, we should continue to assist South Sudan in nation building,” said President Zuma.
President Zuma said the leaders reaffirmed the importance of strengthening the continent’s capacity to deal with crises and conflicts in a speedy, efficient and coordinated manner, under the leadership of the AU, and with limited dependence on outside support.
President Zuma said South Africa will continue to support all efforts aimed at the full operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF) and its Rapid Deployment Capability.
AU funding
President Zuma participated in a retreat of the assembly of the AU on financing the union.
The summit reaffirmed the need to ensure that the AU is financed in a predictable, sustainable, equitable and accountable manner with the full ownership of its member states.
A decision was taken that the AU will implement a 0.2% levy on all eligible imported goods to the continent to finance the AU’s operations, programme and peace and security operations budget from 2017.
The AU Commission will put in place strong oversight and accountability mechanisms for ensuring the effective and prudent use of resources.
On the AU Peace Fund, each region of the AU will contribute $65 million from the levy to support the AU Peace Support Operations budget.
Regional integration
The summit further discussed the integration of the continent and fast-tracking the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by 2017.
Infrastructure development and intra-Africa trade were also the focus of discussion during consultations within the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC).
“Regional integration constitutes an important aspiration of the AU’s Agenda 2063 and remains a critical component of the continent's efforts to ensure sustainable economic and inclusive growth through the creation of a larger regional market and improving Africa's integration in the global economy,” said President Zuma.
The President said the envisaged establishment of the CFTA by 2017 offers an opportunity to create larger economies of scale and a bigger market.
“South Africa is committed to a coordinated strategy to boost intra-Africa trade and to build an integrated market in Africa that will see a market of over one billion people,” said President Zuma.
African e-passport
The electronic passport, a flagship project of Agenda 2063, was also launched during the summit. The initiative is aimed at facilitating the free movement of people, goods and services around the continent in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development.
The assembly requested the AU Commission to provide technical support to member states to enable them to produce and issue African passports to their citizens and to put in place an implementation roadmap for the development of a Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in Africa by January 2018.
UN reform
The AU leaders considered the report on the Reform of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, particularly given the fact that Africa is still not represented after 10 years of negotiations.
Leaders strongly reaffirmed their commitment to the African position on UN Security Council reform, namely the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration.
“Full representation of Africa in the UN Security Council means not less than two permanent seats, including the right to veto and five non-permanent seats,” said President Zuma.
Commission elections postponed
The elections to appoint a new chairperson of the AU Commission were postponed to the 28th AU Summit scheduled for January 2017 in Addis Ababa because the nominated candidates were not able to achieve the two-thirds majority needed.
The current Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will continue to chair the Commission until January.
Meanwhile, President Zuma held bilateral talks on the margins of the summit with his counterparts from Rwanda, Chad and the Central African Republic and discussed issues of mutual concern on bilateral and regional matters.
The 28th AU Summit will be held under the theme ‘Harnessing Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth’. – SAnews.gov.za
