Addis Ababa, April 8, 2013 (SPS) - The 50th Anniversary torch presented Monday to Ethiopia, which hosts the 14th extraordinary session of African Union Executive Council, as a symbol for the kicking off of the preparations for the celebrations of 50th anniversary of the founding of the OAU and AU, which will run until next May 25th.
In this respect, anniversary torches will be handed over to each Member state, to be lighted at an event in every country during the coming months as a sign of the continent-wide celebrations.
“The celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the OAU and AU offers the continent a rare opportunity to reflect on the last five decades, on our prospects, futures and the challenges confronting Africa,” stated H. E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in his opening speech of the 14th session of AU Executive Council, which kicked off today in Addis Ababa.
“Our 50th Commemoration activities must enable us to develop and grow our own narrative: the stories of pre-colonial history of great civilizations, our struggles against slavery and colonialism, our struggles for self-determination and self-reliance and our process of nation-formation, social transformation and state building over the last fifty years,” she added.
Dr. Dlamini Zuma said that in line with Assembly decision Assembly/AU/Dec.422 (XIX), the Commission is working in close collaboration with the Ethiopian Government, Member States, the Regional Economic Communities as well as other AU Organs to organize various activities that are people-centred and memorable.
Official commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the OAU/AU will be celebrated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 25th May 2013, as decided by the 16th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held from 30-31 January 2011.
Similarly, the 18th ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which was held from 29-30 January 2012, also declared 2013 as the Year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.
Fifty years ago(25 May 1963), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was established with the cardinal objective of promoting the unity, solidarity and cooperation of African States to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa.
On 9 September 1999, Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view to accelerating the process of integration in the African continent.
AU was established on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa and launched on 9 July 2002 in South Africa to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
African Union consists of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco.
Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) has been a full and founding member of the African Union (AU), formerly the Organization of African Unity (OAU), since Novemeber 1984. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest of inclusion of SADR to the Union.
SADR takes part at all organs and bodies of the African Union. It is also represented at the Pan-African Parliament. (SPS)
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