AFRICAN UNION

UNION AFRICAINE

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Avenue Molière, 186 - 1050 Bruxelles (Belgique) Tel: (322) 346.97.47/48 Fax: (322) 346.97.28

e-mail: africanunion@skynet.be

SECOND MEETING OF CONSULTATION BETWEEN THE PERMANENT MISSION

AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA IN EUROPE

Saturday 8 March 2008 - Permanent Mission Office

REPORT

Since its inception the African Union (AU), as its predecessor, the Organisation of African

Unity(OAU), but in a more explicit and stronger manner, expressed itself in favour of the African Diaspora

in the world and expressed its concern through its Constitutive Act and the decisions adopted by its

political organs. The African Union Commission has even established a Division, CIDO, within its structures

to deal with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the African Diaspora. With the establishment of

ECOSOCC (Economic, Social and Cultural Council), the AU made more room, a Forum, for the

representation of the Diaspora and to make its voice heard.

2. The African Union organised, in cooperation with the South Africa, major meetings of contact /

consultation with the African Diaspora in North America, the Caribbean (Trinidad and Jamaica) and in Latin

America (Brazil). It is organising a Summit for the Diaspora together with South Africa which the latter will

host in October 2008 in South Africa. In that prospect the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of

the AU requested the AU Commission to help and cooperate with the South African authorities to organise

that Summit. Thus, different Regional Consultative Conferences were organised in the various regions of

the world. All the outcomes were presented at the Ministerial Meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa,

in October 2007. The Regional Consultative Conference for Europe was held in Paris in September 2007.

3. The Permanent Mission of the AU in Brussels organised in its premises several meetings with the

representatives of the African Diaspora Organisations / Associations in Belgium/ Brussels and ensured

that the representatives attended the Paris Conference with the assistance of the South African Embassy

in Brussels. After the Paris meeting there was the Ministerial meeting in which the Diaspora

representatives participated.

4. However, the Permanent Mission felt that there were complaints about the choice of

representatives of the Diaspora and that the Organisations were working in “isolation”, separately and in

divided ranks. It, therefore, deemed it necessary to organise the different ”national groupings” or dispersed

organisations for the purpose of greater effectiveness and efficiency and unity of action under a

big “umbrella” which could be called a “Federation of African Diaspora Organisations”. The Mission

was aware that many were already doing some good work but there was need for cohesion and in that

way, the AU could have a major general interlocutor for a better interaction / interface with the Diaspora in

order to convey in a better manner its message and communication which would be disseminated from top

to bottom and to receive proposals and suggestions from the bottom to the top.

5. The Permanent Mission convened two consultation and brainstorming meetings with some

representatives of the Diaspora in Belgium as in the Cities of Europe, in their personal capacity, to

discuss the best ways to bring together the organisations and to structure them so as to produce better

productive results.

6. The first of those meetings with the invited representatives who came from The Netherlands,

Germany and France was held on Saturday 16 February 2008 in the Permanent Mission and the

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