----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Mensah" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 2:56 PM Subject: [unioNews] AU Commission readies for Pan-African Parliament opening Wednesday, March 10, 2004 <H3>AU Commission readies for Pan-African Parliament opening</H3> Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The Executive Council of the African Union (AU) will hold its fourth ordinary session here 12- 13 March ahead of the inauguration of the Pan-African Parliament next week, a senior official of the AU disclosed Wednesday. In the run-up to the opening of Africa's highest legislature, a series of AU meetings start in the Ethiopian capital this week. According to the official, the Executive Council session will be preceded by the seventh ordinary session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) to thrash out the agenda for consideration by the Foreign Affairs ministers. During its three-day session, the PRC will, among other items on agenda, discuss the AU Commission's report on financial and administrative matters for the June-December 2002 period; and a report from the board of external auditors on accounts of the Commission for the same period. The Commission's acting head of information, Desmond Orjiako, said the PRC will consider the status of contributions by member States to the regular budget of the AU as of March 2004 as well as a report of the Commission on alternative sources of funding. The second ordinary session of the AU Assembly, held July 2003 in Maputo, Mozambique, approved a US$43 million programme budget for January-December 2004. However, the AU leaders authorised the Executive Council to make adjustment of the budget in view of newly elected officials and recruitment of staff of the Commission. On the political front, the PRC will go through a report on security, stability, development and cooperation in Africa. The Committee is also set to consider the draft statute of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the AU. ECOSOCC, to be composed of different social and professional groups of the member States, shall be an advisory organ of the AU. Polio eradication is another sticky issue on the AU's social development and public health agenda that the upcoming sessions will dwell on. According to the World Health Organisation, the disease is threatening to make a comeback, and the whole African continent is on the brink of re-infection unless efforts were made to stop the spread of the virus. The campaign to "Kick Polio Out of Africa", launched in 1996 by former South African President Nelson Mandela, and now championed by AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konaré, cut polio cases down from 205 children being paralysed every day to 388 during the entire year in 2003. Meanwhile, the AU Commission in collaboration with the Steering Committee on the Protocol relating to the Pan-African Parliament has prepared for the inauguration of the Parliament and its first session from 18-20 March. Chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Frene Ginwalla, the Steering Committee has carried out a series of preparatory activities between December 2003 and February 2004. Regional parliamentary groups will convene in Addis Ababa on 17 March, according to a programme released Wednesday by the AU Commission. The Inaugural Session of the Pan-African Parliament will take place at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa on 18 March 2004, followed by the first session of the Parliament that will take place at the same venue. As of 25 February 2004, 38 member States had signed, ratified and deposited the instruments of ratification of the Protocol and 30 member States had submitted the list of their five Members (at least one of whom is a woman) elected to the Pan-African Parliament. Copyright © 2004 PANA ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/DKgolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> lllll QUOTATION: "All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishments of an African empire, so strong and powerful as to compel the respect of mankind, but we in our lifetime can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility within another generation" -<html><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion/afrohero.html">Ancestor Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html> llllllllll * //\\//\\ unioNews Newsgroup //\\//\\ * * http://members.aol.com/GhanaUnion * * We're One People * * Join the Chorus * - African Union Shall Succeed - ===================================== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~