INVITATION

Tuesday 14^th February 2017, 12.30 – 2pm
IJR Offices, 105 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town 8001

The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) will host a Roundtable event, the African Union at 15 Years: An Agenda for the New Chairperson for AU Commission. In 2002, the African Union (AU) was launched in Durban, South Africa, raising expectations for deeper continental integration and the promotion of peace, security, trade and development. This year marks the 15 years since the inception of the Pan-African body, and in addition the fifth Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) is scheduled to be appointed at the Annual Summit of the Heads of State and Government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The IJR Roundtable will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the criticisms often levelled at the AUC Chairperson, currently held by the ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as a merely bureaucratic and ineffectual position. Participants will be able to propose what the next AUC Chairperson should focus on in order to lay the foundations for the ambitious goal of ‘silencing the guns’ of violent conflict across the continent and implementing the visionary Agenda 2063 which seeks to achieve “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in international arena.” Speakers will include AU, South African foreign policy analysts and citizen representatives. The Roundtable is open to the public and will provide a platform for Africans to voice their views on African unity and the future of the African Union.

Where: IJR Offices, 105 Hatfield Street, Gardens 8001, Cape Town.
Date: 14 February 2017; Time: 12:30-14:00
Contact Person: Mamello Mosiana, IJR Justice and Peacebuilding Programme, africaintern1@ijr.org.za, Tel: 021 202 4071