African Diaspora Task Team of the African Union
c/o The Permanent
Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations
305 East 47th
Street, New York, NY 10017
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2010
AFRICAN UNION MOVES TO ESTABLISH STRONGER TIES WITH THE AFRICAN
DIASPORA
NEW
YORK, New York, Oct. 21-22 - The African Union took a giant step on
Thursday and Friday, October 21 and 22, in its efforts to galvanize Africans in
the Diaspora by convening the African Diaspora Meeting at the offices of the
Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations.
The African Diaspora Meeting, labeled "Building Bridges Across the
Atlantic," was organized by the African Union Commission, the main
administrative body of the African Union, through its offices in the United
States, including the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the
United Nations, New York, and the African Union Embassy to the United
States, Washington, DC. Taking charge of the two-day meeting was a strong
delegation from the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The African Union Permanent Observer Mission's Conference Hall was the venue of
the meeting.
The high powered officials from the African Union headquarters, led by Mr.
Anthony Okara, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson,
included Dr. Jinmi Adisa, Diaspora Director of the African Union Commission (Citizens
And Diaspora Directorate (CIDO); Dr. Fareed Arthur, Advisor (Strategic Matters,
Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission), Mr. Wuyi Omitoogun
(Expert, Diaspora Relations, CIDO) and Ms. Nadia Roguiai (Expert, ECOSOCC,
CIDO). The two African Union Ambassadors in the United States,
who attended, were Ambassador Tete Antonio, Permanent Observer of the African Union to the
United Nations; and Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, Ambassador of the African Union
to the United States, Washington, DC.
In his second welcoming address within minutes, the Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of the Republic of Malawi Mr. Brian Bowler delivered a most
explosive and rousing speech, in which he called on his colleagues in dealing
with the Diaspora, especially when it comes to economic well-being of the
group. "For example," he said, "during the UN
General Assembly meeting each September, let's assume that each of the 53
African countries spend just $500,000, we are talking of $25 million that could
go to an African Diaspora company. That's $25 million in less
than one month," he said. Ambassador Bowler, who was speaking as
Chairman of the African Ambassadorial Group in his capacity as a representative
of President Binbu wa Mutharika of Malawi as current Chairman of the African
Union, challenged his colleagues to begin looking for African Diaspora
companies to do business with, as he felt that the relationship with the
Diaspora should not be a one-way street, "especially as a businessman who
owns three breweries in three different African countries."
After Ambassador Antonio welcomed the group, Ambassador Amina Ali took over and
delivered an equally forceful presentation of what the African Union office in
Washington, DC, has accomplished since opening in 2007. She informed the
group that she has aggressively moved to deliver the essence of the AU Diaspora
Initiative by traveling all across the United States, Canada as well as the
Caribbean and Central/ and South American countries in bringing a message of
the need for the Diaspora to recognize its important role to Africa and the
African Union, especially as the Sixth Region of the Union. Ambassador
Ali stayed throughout the two-day meeting in helping to guide the deliberations
of the meeting.
Consequently CIDO Director, Dr. Adisa, provided more reasons of why the meeting
had been called. Dr. Adisa began by calling the meeting a "precedent
setting event, which we hope will set the pace for an annual consultation
process with the African Diaspora in US, the Caribbean and Central//South
America, Europe and the Middle-East, amongst others. In
organizational terms, this is also an exercise in inter-collegiality that
serves as an inspiration for the Commission and various organs of the Union to
work together as one in the spirit of cooperation and solidarity that underpins
the purpose of the African Union."
Dr. Adisa went on to discuss the different sectors of the African Union,
including "Objectives of This Dialogue," "The Initiative Within
the Context of the Development of the African Union," "Rebuilding the
Global African Family," "Definition of the African Diaspora,"
"Engagement Strategies,""Organizational Processes," and
ending with the "Global African Diaspora Summit."
Dr. Adisa discussed the processes that led to the recognition of the Diaspora
as a Sixth Region of the African Union. "Soon after the launching of
the African Union in Durban, South Africa in 2002," he said, "the
Assembly of Heads of States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to establish, among
other things, a legal framework that would create the necessary and sufficient
conditions for putting this decision into effect. Hence, it adopted the
Protocol of the Amendment to the Constitutive Act of the Union which in Article
3 (q) invited the African Diaspora to participate fully as an important
component in the building of the African Union. In adopting the
decision," he continued, "the Protocol symbolically recognized the
Diaspora an important and separate but related constituency outside the five
established regions of Africa - East, West, Central, North and South.
Thus, although there is no specific legal or political text that states
this categorically, it, in effect, created a symbolic sixth region of
Africa."
Regarding the definition of the African Diaspora, Dr. Adisa said that a meeting
of Experts from Member States had met in 2005 and adopted the following
definition, "The African Diaspora consists of peoples of African origin
living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality
and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and
building of the African Union." Dr. Adisa informed the group that
there had been a lot of debates and disagreements on the definition.
There were those who felt the need for an "academic" and
"intellectual" aspects to the definition and the other that would be
related to the political needs of the Union. Another group, he said,
preferred the need to add "permanently" to "living outside the
continent. "Others," he said, "argued that the phrase
"willingness to contribute to the development of the continent and the
building of the African Union" should be left out." Nothing, they
felt, should be demanded or expected from the Diaspora.
The African Union preferred its earlier definition, as according to Dr. Adisa,
it encompasses the following:
(a) Bloodline and/or heritage: The Diaspora should consist of people
living outside the continent whose ancestral roots or heritage are in Africa;
(b) Migration: The Diaspora should be composed of people of African
heritage, who migrated from or are living outside the continent. In this
context, three trends of migration were identified - pre-slave trade, slave
trade, and post-salve trade or modern migration;
(c) The principle of inclusiveness: The definition must embrace
both ancient and modern Diaspora; and
(d) The commitment to the African case: The Diaspora should be
people who are willing to be paid of the continent (or the African family).
Finally, with regards to the importance that the African Union attached to the
Diaspora, Dr. Adisa informed the group that 60% of the Recruitment Committee of
the African Union consisted of individuals from the African Diaspora, and how
he himself attained his present position after interviewing with two
recruitment committees chaired by African Diaspora.
After the addresses, the group spent a lot of time making comments, asking
questions and expressing their concerns about one issue or another. After
the deliberation, the group was informed that it was necessary for the group to
establish a Task Team, which should consist of five members, but later changed
to six members due to numerous organizations represented at the meeting.
Earlier, five elements had been identified as a guide to what the Task Team
should consist of, including Afro-Latinos, Community, Gender, Media, and
Youth. After the group was separated into its different elements to
choose their representative, the following individuals emerged as members of the
Task Team, including Dr. Georgina Falu for Afro-Latinos, Mr. Sidique Wai and
Mr. Omowale Clay, for Community, Ms. Kathy Jenkins Ewa for Gender, Dr. Chika A.
Onyeani for Media, and Engr. Daniel Ochweri for Youth. The Task Team was
later given their terms of mandate within which to work, report and conclude
their assignment within three months.
Later on Thursday evening the 21st October, there was an Award Dinner Gala
organized by Nation to Nation Networking (NNN), whose CEO is Ms. Abaynesh
Asarat, in collaboration with the African Union at 3 West 51st Street at Club
51st Street, attended by the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security,
His Excellency Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra. Those
who received awards included Ms. Elinor Tatum of the Amsterdam News; Dr. Kwame
Akonor, Director of the African Development Institute; Dr. Muriel Petioni,
M.D., known as "Mother of Medicine in Harlem"; Mr. Dabney N.
Montgomery, Member of Community Board 10; and Mr. Seri Remy Gnoleba,
Chairman of the African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S.
A special thanks must go
to His Excellency Ambassador Tete Antonio, and his hardworking staff at the
African Union office in New York, as well as Her Excellency Ambassador Amina
Salum Ali of the African Union Embassy in Washington, DC, for assisting the
African Union Commission in putting together such a successful African Diaspora
meeting.
Chika A. Onyeani
Chair, African Diaspora Task Team of the AU
ps: Kindly send replies to Dr. Georgina Falu, Secretary to the ADTT Board at email: fa...@aol.com