The African Union was established on the 9th of July 2002. Except for Morocco, all of the fifty three African countries are members. The vision of the African Union is that of: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena.” It is the main pan-African governing body and thus sets the tone and standard for development and governing practices across the continent.

 

AU Commission Officials

 

 

Not listed as a Commission:
Directorate of Women, Gender and Development
Female Director

Gender Happenings at the AU

The 6th African Union Course on Gender Responsive Economic Policy- Making in Africa, AU and UN IDEP just took place in February of 2012, which was two weeks of intensive training in the field of gender mainstreaming.

The African Union launched the African Women’s Decade in 2010. In November 2011, The AU passed the decision on the establishment of the fund for African Women.

African Women’s Decade 

FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMITTEES OF THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S DECADE

Guided by the Roadmap to the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020), the Committees established will undertake the following functions:

1.    At the National Level: 

• Create awareness on the African Women’s Decade at grassroots and National levels
• Organize the launching of the Decade at all levels
• Mobilize women’s movement and coordinate stakeholders at all levels (governments, CSOs and other organized groups) including development partners on the African Women’s Decade at grassroots and National levels
• Select projects for implementation during the Decade
• Promote male involvement and collaboration in the activities of the African Women’s Decade at all levels
• Promote the establishment of effective lobby groups on key gender thematic areas at all levels
• Mobilize resources for the implementation of the African Women’s Decade activities at all levels
• Ensure gender responsive budgeting through the allocation of funds to women-specific activities in National budgets
• Mobilize young women and men at all levels to participate in activities on the African Women’s Decade 
• Launch the implementation of national and grass roots projects and monitor them
• Monitor and evaluate the implementation of internationally agreed commitments on gender equality e.g. the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women, the SDGEA, the MDGs at all levels
• Develop annual Work Plan and Budget for the Committees at all levels
• Prepare Annual Reports on the Activities on the Implementation of the Decade

2.    At the Regional Level (to be championed by the RECs):

• Set up the Working Committees for the African Women’s Decade at the Regional level
• Organize the launching of the African Women’s Decade at the Regional level
• Support advocacy campaigns at the Regional level
• Organize the mobilization of resources for coordination of activities of the African Women’s Decade at the National and Regional levels and assist Member States to mobilize resources at the National level
• Coordinate with the National and Regional Committees
• Compile country reports into regional reports on the activities of the African Women’s Decade
• Convene meetings of the Working Committee to approve the Thematic Projects per Region
• Mobilize resources for the implementation of the African Women’s Decade activities at the Regional level
• Promote the establishment of effective lobby groups on key gender thematic areas for the African Women’s Decade at the Regional level
• Develop annual Work Plan for the Committee at the Regional level
• Prepare Annual Reports on the Activities on the Implementation of the Decade

3.  At the Continental Level: 

• Provide overall guidance for the implementation of activities for the African Women’s Decade
• Promote male involvement and collaboration in the activities of the African Women’s Decade at all levels
• Mobilize resources for the implementation of the African Women’s Decade activities at the Continental and Regional levels
• Promote the establishment of effective lobby groups on key gender thematic areas at the Continental level
• Launch the Decade at the Continental level
• Support projects selected for implementation during the Decade
• Develop annual Work Plan for the Committee at the National level
• Prepare Annual Reports on the Activities on the Implementation of the Decade

 

To find out more about the African Union, please visit www.africa-union.org/