African Union

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.” This vision of a new, forward looking, dynamic and integrated Africa will be fully realised through relentless struggle on several fronts and as a long-term endeavour. The African Union has shifted focus from supporting liberation movements in the erstwhile African territories under colonialism and apartheid, as envisaged by the OAU since 1963 and the Constitutive Act, to an organisation spear-heading Africa’s development and integration.

Department of Social Affairs

The Department of Social Affairs works to promote the AU’s labour, social development and cultural agenda. Its core roles include: providing support for the implementation of Member States’ policies on labour, population, health and migration; developing programmes and strategies on drug control and other issues; and promoting AU instruments for advancing the social and solidarity agenda. The Department has five divisions: Health, Nutrition and Population; HIV/AIDs, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases; Labour, Employment and Migration; Social Welfare, Vulnerable Groups and Drug Control; and Culture and Sport. It also hosts the Secretariat of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC).

The Objectives of the African Union

• To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the peoples of Africa
• To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States
• To accelerate the political and socio-economic  integration of the continent
• To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples
• To encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• To promote peace, security, and stability on the continent
• To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance
• To promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments
• To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations
• To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies
• To promote co-operation in all fields of human activity  to raise the living standards of African peoples
• To coordinate and harmonise the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union
• To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology
• To work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent