OAU Summit, 9 September 1999

An Extraordinary Summit of the OAU held in Sirte, Libya on 9 September 1999 called for the establishment of an African Union in conformity with the ultimate objectives of the OAU Charter and the provisions of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. Following this, the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted during the Lomé Summit of the OAU on 11 July 2000. The Union evolved from the OAU and the AEC into one unified institution. In general, the African Union objectives are different and more comprehensive than those of the OAU. The objectives of the African Union, as contained in the Constitutive Act, are to:

• Achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and the peoples of Africa
• Defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States
• Accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent
• Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples
• Encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; · Promote peace, security, and stability on the continent
• Promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance
• Promote and protect human peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments
• Establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations
• Promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies
• Promote cooperation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples;
  Coordinate and harmonise the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union
• Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology; and
• Work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent

The adoption of the Constitutive Act should be seen as the first step in an ongoing process to streamline and rationalize the existing organizational framework of the Continent, in so doing making the African Union relevant to the demands of the 21st Century and to achieve the ultimate goal of complete African unity. The African Union would build on the successes of the OAU, which, since its inception, has developed into the political and economic fulcrum of Africa.

South Africa attended its first Assembly of Heads of State and Government (OAU Summit) in Tunis from 13-15 May 1994. In March 1995, South Africa established an embassy in Addis Ababa.

South Africa has actively participated in the activities of the OAU since its admission as a member, and was instrumental in initiating the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty (the Treaty of Pelindaba). It also played a significant role in placing the issue of non-proliferation of landmines and small arms on the agenda of the OAU. At the 1998 Summit in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, South Africa was requested to act as the co-ordinator of the countries of the Indian Ocean Region for the OAU's efforts to find a sustainable solution to the problems in the Comoros.

President Mbeki signed the Constitutive Act of the African Union on 8 September 2000 in New York. The Act was ratified by the South African Parliament on 27 February 2001.

South Africa became a member of the OAU Troika with effect from July 2001, for a period of three years. In July 2002 South Africa assumed the chair of the OAU when it hosted the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government (OAU Summit). This Summit was the first dedicated African Union Summit, with South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki the first leader to preside over the new Union.

We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Organization of African Unity (OAU):

1. The President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
2. The President of the Republic of Angola
3. The President of the Republic of Benin
4. The President of the Republic of Botswana
5. The President of Burkina Faso
6. The President of the Republic of Burundi
7. The President of the Republic of Cameroon
8. The President of the Republic of Cape Verde
9. The President of the Central African Republic
10. The President of the Republic of Chad
11. The President of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros
12. The President of the Republic of the Congo
13. The President of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
14. The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo
15. The President of the Republic of Djibouti
16. The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
17. The President of the State of Eritrea
18. The Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
19. The President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea
20. The President of the Gabonese Republic
21. The President of the Republic of The Gambia
22. The President of the Republic of Ghana
23. The President of the Republic of Guinea
24. The President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau
25. The President of the Republic of Kenya
26. The Prime Minister of Lesotho
27. The President of the Republic of Liberia
28. The Leader of the 1st of September Revolution of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
29. The President of the Republic of Madagascar
30. The President of the Republic of Malawi
31. The President of the Republic of Mali
32. The President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
33. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius
34. The President of the Republic of Mozambique
35. The President of the Republic of Namibia
36. The President of the Republic of Niger
37. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
38. The President of the Republic of Rwanda
39. The President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
40. The President of the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
41. The President of the Republic of Senegal
42. The President of the Republic of Seychelles
43. The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone
44. The President of the Republic of Somalia
45. The President of the Republic of South Africa
46. The President of the Republic of Sudan
47. The King of Swaziland
48. The President of the United Republic of Tanzania
49. The President of the Togolese Republic
50. The President of the Republic of Tunisia
51. The President of the Republic of Uganda
52. The President of the Republic of Zambia
53. The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe

INSPIRED by the noble ideals which guided the founding fathers of our Continental Organization and generations of Pan-Africanists in their determination to promote unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples of Africa and African States;

CONSIDERING the principles and objectives stated in the Charter of the Organization of African Unity and the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community;
RECALLING the heroic struggles waged by our peoples and our countries for political independence, human dignity and economic emancipation;

CONSIDERING that since its inception, the Organization of African Unity has played a determining and invaluable role in the liberation of the continent, the affirmation of a common identity and the process of attainment of the unity of our Continent and has provided a unique framework for our collective action in Africa and in our relations with the rest of the world;

DETERMINED to take up the multifaceted challenges that confront our continent and peoples in the light of the social, economic and political changes taking place in the world;

CONVINCED of the need to accelerate the process of implementing the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community in order to promote the socio-economic development of Africa and to face more effectively the challenges posed by globalization;

GUIDED by our common vision of a united and strong Africa and by the need to build a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society, in particular women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen solidarity and cohesion among our peoples;

CONSCIOUS of the fact that the scourge of conflicts in Africa constitutes a major impediment to the socio-economic development of the continent and of the need to promote peace, security and stability as a prerequisite for the implementation of our development and integration agenda;

DETERMINED to promote and protect human and peoples' rights, consolidate democratic institutions and culture, and to ensure good governance and the rule of law;

FURTHER DETERMINED to take all necessary measures to strengthen our common institutions and provide them with the necessary powers and resources to enable them discharge their respective mandates effectively;

RECALLING the Declaration which we adopted at the Fourth Extraordinary Session of our Assembly in Sirte, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on 9.9. 99, in which we decided to establish an African Union, in conformity with the ultimate objectives of the Charter of our Continental Organization and the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1
Definitions

In this Constitutive Act:

" Act" means the present Constitutive Act;
" AEC" means the African Economic Community;
" Assembly" means the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Union;
" Charter" means the Charter of the OAU;
" Committee" means a Specialized Technical Committee of the Union;
" Council" means the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the Union;
" Court " means the Court of Justice of the Union;
" Executive Council" means the Executive Council of Ministers of the Union;
" Member State" means a Member State of the Union;
" OAU" means the Organization of African Unity;
" Parliament" means the Pan-African Parliament of the Union;
'Union" means the African Union established by the present Constitutive Act.

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