AfriMAP co-hosts debates in Accra on the Union Government
24 June 2007
African leaders debated proposals for the rapid creation of a United States of Africa at the 9th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union that took place in Accra, Ghana, 1-2 July 2007. AfriMAP was one of the main sponsors of two fora that took place in advance of the summit, enabling civil society organizations to debate the proposal for a Union Government and provide input to what was termed the 'Grand Debate'.

The first was a one day roundtable during the official pre-summit Civil Society Forum organised by the AU Commission's Civil Society Directorate (CIDO), held on June 20. The second was a two day continental conference (June 22 -23) hosted by our national partner, the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) that brought together over 150 men and women from 100 organizations in 30 countries across Africa and the Diaspora. Other sponsors of the meeting were the Centre for Democracy and Development-Ghana, Oxfam UK, the UN Millennium Campaign, the African Capacity Building Foundation, the Pan-African Movement, Action Aid and Fahamu. Speakers at the conference included the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana Hon. Nana Akuffo Addo, Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey of IDEG, Ozias Tungwarara of AfriMAP, Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem of the UN Millennium Campaign, Hakima Abbas of the AU-Monitor, Professor Atukwei Okai, Irungu Houghton of Oxfam and various civil society organization representatives.

For these two discussions, AfriMAP commissioned papers on aspects of the Union Government proposal by several individuals who have been close observers of the project for continental integration. These papers are available on the call for papers page of the AfriMAP website, and the communiqué and report of the meeting are below.

Materials available for download:

Communiqué CSO conference on Union Government - English (53.5Kb)
CIDO Report on AU-CSO Pre-Summit Forum - English (293.96Kb)
Report on the CSO Conference - English (704.54Kb)