A retreat on African Union (AU) Institutional Reforms and the second decade of Agenda 2063 is set to get underway in Kigali, Rwanda today.
The Kigali consultations will discuss the Institutional Reforms and the processes underway to reposition the organization to ensure it has the requisite institutional capacity to deliver on the economic, political, and social vision of the continent as encapsulated in Agenda 2063.
H.E. Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), is leading a delegation to the retreat to ensure that the reforms cater for a more powerful and better resourced PAP, fit-for purpose to effectively discharge its role in line with its mandate as provided for in the Constitutive Act of the African Union related to the PAP.
The reform of the PAP has been identified as critical, given the AU’s resolve to fully evolve into a people-centered institution, a sine a qua non for achieving the key aspirations of Agenda 2063. A continental Parliament remains the only viable mechanism to ensure full participation and representation of all citizens in the affairs of the AU.
Since taking over in June 2022, the leadership of the PAP, led by H.E. Hon. Chief Charumbira, has held several engagements with the team responsible for leading Institutional Reforms. The engagements have focused on ensuring that the uniqueness of the PAP as a Continental Parliament, designed to represent the aspirations of the citizenry, is taken into consideration in this process.
On the sidelines of the 2023 March Sittings of Permanent Committees of the PAP, the Bureau held a working session with Prof. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, Head of Reform Implementation Unit and his team. The session allowed for further inputs by Pan-African Parliamentarians on how to make the Parliament more effective and relevant.
The retreat in Kigali brings together members of the AU Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC); African Union Organs; and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). It is important to note that reform agenda emphasizes on the need to focus on key priorities with a continental scope; realigning AU institutions to deliver on its objectives; operational efficiency, and sustainable self-financing the Union.
The retreat will also discuss the second ten-year plan of Agenda 2063 spans 2024 to 2033. Agenda 2063 was adopted by the 24th Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa in January 2015. The Agenda embodies the aspirations of the African people, framed in a collective ambition thus: “The Africa We Want in 2063”. The Agenda is operationalized through 5 ten-year implementation plans, with the first plan straddling 2014 to 2023. The second decade of Agenda 2063 implementation is one of acceleration, building on the first that focused on convergence.
In 2016 African leaders decided that Institutional Reforms of the AU was urgent and necessary given the role the AU is expected to play in driving and achieving Africa’s Agenda 2063 vision of inclusive economic growth and development. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda was mandated by the Assembly of Heads of State in July 2016 to lead the process.
The retreat is scheduled to end on 10 June 2023.
