African Union

The African Union (abbreviated AU in English, and UA in its other official languages) is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 53 African states. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a twice-yearly meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the February 2009 Union meeting headed by Libyan leader Gaddafi, it was resolved that the African Union Commission would become the African Union Authority.
== Overview ==
Among the objectives of the AU's leading institutions are to accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent; to promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples; to achieve peace and security in Africa; and to promote democratic institutions, good governance and human rights.
The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ of the African Union is the Assembly, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU. The Assembly is currently chaired by Muammar al-Gaddafi, leader of Libya, elected at the tenth ordinary meeting of the Assembly in January 2009. The AU also has a representative body, the Pan African Parliament, which consists of 265 members elected by the national parliaments of the AU member states. The current president of the Pan African Parliament is Gertrude Mongella.
Other political institutions of the AU include the Executive Council, made up of foreign ministers, which prepares decisions for the Assembly; the Permanent Representatives Committee, made up of the ambassadors to Addis Ababa of AU member states; and the Economic, Social, and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), a civil society consultative body.
The AU Commission, the secretariat to the political structures, is chaired by Jean Ping of Gabon.
The main administrative capital of the African Union is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the African Union Commission is headquartered. Other AU structures are hosted by different member states: for example, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is based in Banjul, The Gambia; and the NEPAD and APRM Secretariats as well as the Pan-African Parliament are in Midrand, South Africa.
The AU covers the entire continent except for Morocco, which opposes the membership of Western Sahara as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. However, Morocco has a special status within the AU and benefits from the services available to all AU states from the institutions of the AU, such as the African Development Bank. Moroccan delegates also participate at important AU functions, and negotiations continue to try to resolve the conflict with the Polisario Front in Tindouf, Algeria and parts of Western Sahara.
The AU's first military intervention in a member state was the May 2003 deployment of a peacekeeping force of soldiers from South Africa, Ethiopia, and Mozambique to Burundi to oversee the implementation of the various agreements. AU troops were also deployed in Sudan for peacekeeping in the Darfur conflict, before the mission was handed over to the United Nations on 1 January 2008 UNAMID. The AU has also sent a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, of which the peacekeeping troops are from Uganda and Burundi.
The AU has adopted a number of important new documents establishing norms at continental level, to supplement those already in force when it was created. These include the African Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003) and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007), as well as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and its associated Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.
== Membership ==
Current members:
*Algeria
*Angola
*Benin
*Botswana
*Burkina Faso
*Burundi
*Cameroon
*Cape Verde
*Central African Republic
*Chad
*Comoros
*Côte d'Ivoire
*Democratic Republic of the Congo
*Republic of the Congo
*Djibouti
*Egypt
*Equatorial Guinea
*Eritrea
*Ethiopia
*Gabon
*Gambia
*Ghana
*Guinea-Bissau
*Kenya
*Lesotho
*Liberia
*Libya
*Malawi
*Mali
*Mauritius
*Mozambique
*Namibia
*Niger
*Nigeria
*Rwanda
*São Tomé and Príncipe
*Senegal
*Seychelles
*Sierra Leone
*Somalia
*South Africa
*Sudan
*Swaziland
*Tanzania
*Togo
*Tunisia
*Uganda
*Zambia
*Zimbabwe
*Western Sahara (SADR)
Suspended Members
*Mauritania - suspended after 2008 coup d'état.
*Guinea - suspended after 2008 coup d'état
*Madagascar - suspended after 2009 Malagasy political crisis.
*Sudan - Suspended for inaction over Darfur crisis in 2009
== Organisation and Structure ==
The African Union has a number of official bodies:
Pan-African Parliament (PAP) 
To become the highest legislative body of the African Union. The seat of the PAP is at Midrand, South Africa. The Parliament is composed of 265 elected representatives from all 53 AU states, and intended to provide popular and civil-society participation in the processes of democratic governance. The current President of the Pan African Parliament is Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania. 
Assembly of the African Union 
Composed of heads of state and heads of government of AU states, the Assembly is currently the supreme governing body of the African Union. It is gradually devolving some of its decision-making powers to the Pan African Parliament. It meets once a year and makes its decisions by consensus or by a two-thirds majority. The current[update] Chairman of the Assembly is Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania.
 
African Union Commission 
The secretariat of the African Union, composed of ten commissioners and supporting staff and headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In a similar fashion to its European counterpart, the European Commission, it is responsible for the administration and co-ordination of the AU's activities and meetings. 
African Court of Justice 
The Constitutive Act provides for a Court of Justice to rule on disputes over interpretation of AU treaties. A protocol to set up the Court of Justice was adopted in 2003, but has not yet entered into force: it is likely to be superseded by a protocol creating a Court of Justice and Human Rights, which will incorporate the already established African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples' Rights (see below) and have two chambers—one for general legal matters and one for rulings on the human rights treaties. The draft protocol has been under discussion for several years and is likely to be adopted during 2008. 
Executive Council 
Composed of ministers designated by the governments of member states. It decides on matters such as foreign trade, social security, food, agriculture and communications, is accountable to the Assembly, and prepares material for the Assembly to discuss and approve. 
Permanent Representatives' Committee 
Consisting of nominated permanent representatives of member states, the Committee prepares the work for the Executive Council. (European Union equivalent: the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER).) 
Peace and Security Council (PSC) 
Proposed at the Lusaka Summit in 2001 and established in 2004 under a protocol to the Constitutive Act adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2002. The protocol defines the PSC as a collective security and early warning arrangement to facilitate timely and effective response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa. Other responsibilities conferred to the PSC by the protocol include prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, post-conflict peace building and developing common defence policies. The PSC has fifteen members elected on a regional basis by the Assembly. Similar in intent and operation to the United Nations Security Council. 
Economic, Social and Cultural Council 
An advisory organ composed of professional and civic representatives, similar to the European Economic and Social Committee. The chair of ECOSOCC, elected in 2008, is Cameroonian lawyer Akere Muna of the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU). 
Specialised Technical Committees 
Both the Abuja Treaty and the Constitutive Act provide for Specialised Technical Committees to be established made up of African ministers to advise the Assembly. In practice, they have never been set up. The ten proposed themes are: Rural Economy and Agricultural Matters; Monetary and Financial Affairs; Trade, Customs, and Immigration; Industry, Science and Technology; Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Transport, Communications, and Tourism; Health; Labour, and Social Affairs; Education, Culture, and Human Resources. 
Financial institutions 
African Central Bank, African Investment Bank, African Monetary Fund. These institutions have not yet been established. Eventually, the AU aims to have a single currency (the Afro).
 
Human rights 
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, in existence since 1986, is established under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter) rather than the Constitutive Act of the African Union. It is the premier African human rights body, with responsibility for monitoring and promoting compliance with the African Charter. The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was established in 2006 to supplement the work of the Commission, following the entry into force of a protocol to the African Charter providing for its creation. It is planned that the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights will be merged with the African Court of Justice (see above). 
== Leadership ==
In the Qpawn world, the AU elects three members to oversee the mission of the Union.
The roles are:
*Chief Diplomat of the African Union
*Marshall of the African Union
*Secretary of the African Union
Election Proceedure for Leadership Roles
1. Elections for the three leadership positions shall be held every year in the month of January. In the event of a position being vacated before the end of a term ((i.e. player inactivity for more than 7 RL days without first giving notice)) emergency elections can be called for the position in question.
2. Each nation has right to announce its candidacy for ONE of the three positions. No nation can run for more than one position as no nation can hold more than one leadership position. There will be no nominations; only self-announcements.
3. When a nation announces its candidacy it should use the following template:
 Nation: Kenya
 Position Desired: Chief Diplomat
 Q1. What goals do you have should you be elected?
 
 A1. As Chief Diplomat of the AU, I would work to strengthen ties with the European Union in particular. Given Europe's proximity to Africa, I think 
 that and so on and so on...
 Q2. Why should you be elected?
 A2. Kenya has been known as a peaceful and diplomatic nation for quite some time now. Using the relationships that Kenya has with other nations, I 
 will try to build those relationships up to include the AU and so on and so on... 
4. After those interested in announcing their candidacy have done so, other nations will be able to ask questions so as to determine who they will 
vote for. At the end of this time a vote will be called for each position and the leadership will be determined.