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AU calls on African countries to improve governance

Xinhua, December 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Tuesday called on African countries to improve democratic and participatory governance and rule with the consent of their people.

"Across the continent, from north central to south, and east to west, the numbers of mass protests have increased drastically over the past few years," Dlamini-Zuma said in her State of the Union media briefing in Durban, southeastern South Africa.

African people are out in the streets demanding better services from their governments, improvements in their living conditions and an end to repression and to corruption, according to Dlamini-Zuma.

Just during the term of office of this Commission, over 50 elections have been held in the four years. African countries must ensure that democracy translate into changes in the peoples' lives and their freedoms, Dlamini-Zuma said.

She said the AU Constitutive Act committed the continent to a principle of non-indifference, and put in place an African Peace and Security Architecture, to ensure that concrete actions are being taken to prevent and resolve conflicts.

Moreover, the continent also adopted its frameworks in the area of governance, human rights and democracy, through the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights, and the Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, said Dlamini-Zuma.

These normative frameworks, along with the AU programmes of development and growth, are the foundations for silencing the guns and building lasting peace in Africa, she said.

These human rights and democratic frameworks, in the context of Africa's diverse populations, cultures and religions, must ensure inclusion, rights and development for all, Dlamini-Zuma stressed.

"Thus, as we address the situations in Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Darfur and Mali, we seek to bring an immediate end to the killings and displacements, but we must also make sure that we assist these countries to build inclusive political, social and economic development and cultures of tolerance and peace," she added.

The AU chief also announced that the organization will convene the African Economic Platform from March 20-22 next year in Mauritius, to strategise with the political leadership, business and academic leadership on economic transformation and on the African skills revolution. Endit