Remarks by Charles Mutasa, AU ECOSOCC deputy presiding officer, on the occasion of the first consultative dialogue between African civil society organisations and the Pan African Parliament, 7-8 May 2007
By Charles MUTASA, Deputy Presiding Officer and Executive Director of AFRODAD
The president of the Pan African Parliament
The Chairperson of Southern Africa Trust
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the AU economic social and cultural council (ECOSOCC) standing committee and on my own behalf, I take this priviledge and honour to address you on this august occasion. As ECOSOCC we are glad to be associated with the work, vision and aspirations of emerging democratic institutions such as the Pan African Parliament. I am sure you all agree with me that democracy need strong institutions to anchor it and such institutions in our continent include the Pan African Parliament, a vibrant civil society that ECOSOCC is putting up, independent media- just to mention but a few.
Permit me to mention from the onset, that we are happy to be here in South Africa, the permanent home of the Pan African Parliament. On behalf of my colleagues at ECOSOCC, I would like to congratulate the Pan African Parliament official opening of their 7th ordinary session. Allow me also to express my deep appreciation to the Pan African Parliament and the Southern Africa Trust for putting up this historic and momentous event –the first consultative dialogue between African civil society organizations and the Pan African Parliament. This dialogue indeed provides an opportunity for civil society organizations to demonstrate their visible presence and engage with the work of the Pan African Parliament as well as gives them a first hand experience of parliament in session.
Mr, Chairman, Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me take this opportunity to give you a brief update of what has transpired within the framework of the economic social and cultural council. Following the adoption of the AU- economic social and cultural council statutes in July 2004 at the third summit of the AU and the subsequent launch of the economic social and cultural council on 29th March 2005, an interim ECOSOCC standing committee was elected. This committee is headed by a bureau of 5 people representing the five geographical regions of Africa-North, West central, East and Southern Africa. The presiding Officer of the bureau is Hon, Prof. Wangari Mathaai who is also the East Africa regional representative of ECOSOCC. I am one of the 4 deputy presiding officers representing Southern Africa.
The establishment of ECOSOCC is to enable the African people and institutions, not only to contribute to the programmes and decisions of the AU, but to also assume ownership of these programmes and to take to take responsibility in their implementation. Our mandate as an interim standing committee is to mobilize CSOs and citizens in Africa to fully and effectively engage with the African Union and its member states.
The establishment of ECOSOCC under the provisions of articles 5 and 22 of the African Union Constitutive Act is a confirmation and assurance that popular participation in the activities of the African Union as enunciated in the African Charter on Popular Participation is a prerequisite for sustainable development in Africa. Involving CSOs is key considering the role they are expected to play as watchdogs of their governments, guardians of democratic principles, especially observance of human rights, the rule of law and generally inculcating a culture of peace which are all building blocks of good governance.
Mr, Chairperson, Ladies and gentlemen
As the interim ECOSOCC standing committee we have since convened a number of regional and national meetings to draw a road map and put in place strategic modalities of implementation. These meetings have provided a forum for CSOs to interrogate their participation in ECOSOCC. Currently we are working towards ensuring that we hold elections for the substantive ECOSOCC before December 2007. I must at this juncture commend the financial support we have received from the Southern Africa Trust, Action Aid International and the UNDP among others which made these meetings possible.
Having said this, I must hasten to mention that our ECOSOCC journey has not been without its own humps and potholes. The first problem is that of the institutional arrangement we are operating under or the location of ECOSOCC secretariat within the African Union commission’s citizen’s directorate (CIDO) that compels us to rely heavily on their cooperation. As secretariat and stewards of our financial resources, they to a large extent determine the pace of our progress and at times we can not move unless we agree with them on the way forward.
I do personally, cherish and recommend that the African Union leaders should adopt for ECOSOCC an institutional arrangement that is similar with that of the Pan African Parliament. We need to have a CSOs-friendly country hosting us, having our own secretariat and offices for easy of coordination and facilitation of civil society activities. Many would agree with me that our advisory role within the Union will not be done properly until this scenario is addressed. At the moment ECOSOCC is an organ within another organ, and one wonders how it can effectively advise all the other organs of the African Union. The second problem we have has to do with shortage and lack of financial resources to carry out our mandate of popularizing and mobilizing civil society around African Union issues. We were given two years to do so, but as of today despite many of us including myself calling for the secretariat to release resources we continue to be denied such resources for endless technical reasons. We have thus relied heavily in the good will and wishes of donors agencies to do national and regional meetings. Yet these national and regional structures of ECOSOCC are its building blocks if we are to reach the grassroots and the less fortunate among us.
Having said the above, I now turn to look at possible links between the Pan African Parliament and ECOSOCC. May be I should start by informing this gathering that a number of ECOSOCC bureau members including myself have held preliminary talks with the Pan African Parliament president and others on possible linkages and collaboration areas. In our discussions, we have noted that as people driven organs of the African Union, -PAP, ECOSOCC, the African Court and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights – we need to regularly meet, work together on areas that are of common interest to the citizens of this continent. We need to do joint missions and statements on troubled spots and issues in our continent. These can include advising our leaders on Sudan’s Darfur crisis, the Somalian war, the problems in Zimbabwe, DRC and Nigeria’s election stand off. Our participation in the current grand debate on the Union government in Africa, the African peer Review mechanism, election monitoring, peace building and conflict resolution must demonstrate our ability to stand for and speak on behalf of the citizens of this continent.
Let me suggest some other few ways of collaboration in my concluding. We need to constantly have these consultative dialogues between civil society and parliamentarians at least once or twice a year. This could be on the official opening of parliament like this or on the margins of the AU summits. We also need to organise informal and interactive public hearings with our leaders on selected themes from time to time. This should be a mechanism to keep our leaders on their feet in regard to citizen concerns in areas of democracy, human rights, gender equality, aid effectiveness, climate change, MDGs etc. We also have an opportunity to exchange notes, tap on each others’ expertise as we advise our governments and the Union. Where CSOs have comparative advantage especially in the area of research work they should help parliament in mastering key issues emanating from such and similarly parliament can also help in pushing the right legislation for a better continent.
Let me end by commending PAP and SAT for convening this meeting, it is a step in the right direction. It is true that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step-this is the step. Let me also add and say engaging civil society is a necessity and not an option. The common currency that runs throughout so many struggles and movements for liberation in Africa is the desire for democracy. This PAP and ECOSOCC links conveys a new spirit, one that would make the African Union more outward looking and more effective at identifying multiple constituencies with stakes in particular issues .
With these words, I wish all of us-those with civil society and those with parliament God speed in all our endeavours and I thank you for your kind attention.
