IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 155
Concerning the formation of the African Union. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2003
Mr. MEEKS of New York (for himself, Mr. FATTAH, and Mr. PAYNE) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Concerning the formation of the African Union.
Whereas upon the conclusion of World War II, the United 
Nations Charter committed all colonial powers to develop 
full self-governance and free political institutions in the 
territories under their control; 
Whereas on May 25, 1963, 32 newly independent African 
states signed the Charter of the Organization of African 
Unity (OAU) to promote African solidarity and intensify 
efforts to improve living standards; 
Whereas some of Africa’s first democratically elected Presi-
dents such as Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, envisioned Afri-
ca’s future as a ‘‘United States of Africa’’; 
Whereas such efforts to promote solidarity and stability on 
the continent were undermined by regional conflicts, mili-
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tary coups, and civil wars, many of which were exacer-
bated by the Cold War and a general policy of noninter-
ference and respect for territorial integrity in their rela-
tions with other member states; 
Whereas the OAU’s efforts to promote peace, stability, and 
prosperity were further stymied by internal and external 
structural constraints on addressing the human, political, 
social, and economic legacies of colonialism; 
Whereas economic growth and sustainable socioeconomic de-
velopment in sub-Saharan African countries remain con-
strained by monumental foreign debts, increasing trade 
imbalances, and Africa’s inability to benefit from greater 
amounts of international capital and trade flows; 
Whereas in May of 1994, the ratification of the OAU’s Abuja 
Treaty provided for the African Economic Community to 
be set up through a gradual process, which would be 
achieved by coordination, harmonization, and progressive 
integration of the activities of existing and future re-
gional economic communities; 
Whereas the United States enacted several initiatives to im-
prove United States economic relations with sub-Saharan 
Africa, including the African Growth and Opportunity 
Act, which offers trade and other economic benefits to 
sub-Saharan African countries which meet certain cri-
teria; 
Whereas on September 9, 1999, the OAU drafted the Con-
stitutive Act of the African Union, establishing the legal 
basis of the African Union; 
Whereas the 2000 OAU Assembly of Heads of State and 
Government Summit in Lome´, Togo adopted the Con-
stitutive Act of the African Union;
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Whereas a decision declaring the establishment of the African 
Union, based on the unanimous will of member states, 
was adopted by the 5th Extraordinary OAU Summit held 
in Sirte, Libya on March 1–2, 2001; 
Whereas the African Union was created as a successor orga-
nization to the OAU to further encourage economic 
growth and accelerated integration into the global econ-
omy; 
Whereas the objectives of the African Union as stipulated in 
the Constitutive Act are the following: to achieve greater 
unity and solidarity between the African countries and 
the peoples of Africa; to defend the sovereignty, terri-
torial integrity, and independence of its member states; 
to accelerate the political and socioeconomic integration 
of the continent; to promote and defend African common 
positions on issues of interest to the continent and its 
peoples; to encourage international cooperation, taking 
due account of the Charter of the United Nations and 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; to promote 
peace, security, and stability on the African continent; to 
promote democratic principles and institutions, popular 
participation, and good governance; to promote and pro-
tect human rights in accordance with the African Charter 
on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human 
rights instruments; to establish the necessary conditions 
which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the 
global economy and in international negotiations; to pro-
mote sustainable development at the economic, social, 
and cultural levels as well as the integration of African 
economies; to promote cooperation in all fields of human 
activity to raise the living standards of African peoples; 
to coordinate and harmonize the policies between the ex-
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isting and future regional economic communities for the 
gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union; to ad-
vance the development of the continent by promoting re-
search in all fields, in particular in science and tech-
nology; and to work with relevant international partners 
in the eradication of preventable diseases and the pro-
motion of good health on the continent; 
Whereas South African President Thabo Mbeki was selected 
as chairman of the newly formed African Union; 
Whereas the African Union has declared that it will abandon 
the OAU’s policy of nonintervention into the internal af-
fairs of member states in favor of a new policy of inter-
vention in cases of genocide, war crimes, or gross viola-
tions of human rights; 
Whereas the African Union will create various organs, includ-
ing an African Central Bank, an African Investment 
Bank, a Commission at least half of the members of 
which will be African women, a peacekeeping force, a se-
curity council, and a Pan African Parliament to develop 
and implement the new policies of the African Union; and 
Whereas the African Union has declared that the New Part-
nership for African Development (NEPAD) will be the 
continent’s plan for economic development: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) member states of the newly formed African 
Union should be commended for their efforts in cre-
ating an organization dedicated to establishing 
democratic societies and promoting socioeconomic
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development through regional integration and eco-
nomic policy reforms; 
(2) the President should encourage domestic 
and international support of the African Union and 
the implementation of the New Partnership for Afri-
can Development (NEPAD) plan that fully involves 
Africa’s civil societies; 
(3) the President should encourage both foreign 
and domestic private investment, broad based eco-
nomic growth, and socioeconomic development in Af-
rica; and 
(4) the United States should continue to estab-
lish and carry out economic governance and initia-
tives that strengthen transparent public-private part-
nerships to support the building of the necessary re-
gional and national institutions for developing effi-
cient and competitive markets in Africa.
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