African Union discusses increasing budget fivefold

ADDIS ABABA – African Union foreign ministers began talks this week on increasing the organisations budget by as much as 500 per cent to fund peacekeeping missions and fight poverty across the continent.

The AU is looking to raise its annual budget to US$297 million from US$43 million, officials said at the start of the extraordinary meeting in Addis Ababa. “Funding is extremely important to us and enables us to put into effect the vision of the AU,” the union’s spokesman Adam Thiam said.The budget talks centre on AU chief Alpha Oumar Konare’s three-year, US$1,7 billion strategic plan to revitalise the troubled and marginalised continent.Konare proposed in July that the AU’s members pledge 0,5 per cent of their national budgets to the pan-African organisation.”We know the state of poverty of so many of our countries, and we know the difficulties in confronting these countries,” Konare said in his opening address on Monday.”Our search for more resources for Africa will never weaken, because without new resources our continent can never make it.”His plan includes US$200 million for a standing peacekeeping force, US$30 million for the pan-African parliament based in South Africa, and US$3 million for a regional court.Another US$600 million would be spent over three years for an anti-poverty blueprint, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.Konare, the former president of Mali, also wants to double the number of staff at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa to make the executive commission a more effective body.This would raise the commission’s annual budget to US$130 million.But the AU has collected only US$26 million from member states, and US$220 million a year is already earmarked for the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.Thiam said that, while the commission is looking for US$297 million, member states are believed to be willing to contribute US$160 million.The AU will probably then appeal to wealthy nations for financial support.Any agreement would have to be endorsed by AU heads of state at a yet-to-be scheduled summit.The AU was formed two years ago to replace the ineffective and cash-strapped Organisation of African Unity.- Nampa-AP”Funding is extremely important to us and enables us to put into effect the vision of the AU,” the union’s spokesman Adam Thiam said.The budget talks centre on AU chief Alpha Oumar Konare’s three-year, US$1,7 billion strategic plan to revitalise the troubled and marginalised continent.Konare proposed in July that the AU’s members pledge 0,5 per cent of their national budgets to the pan-African organisation.”We know the state of poverty of so many of our countries, and we know the difficulties in confronting these countries,” Konare said in his opening address on Monday.”Our search for more resources for Africa will never weaken, because without new resources our continent can never make it.”His plan includes US$200 million for a standing peacekeeping force, US$30 million for the pan-African parliament based in South Africa, and US$3 million for a regional court.Another US$600 million would be spent over three years for an anti-poverty blueprint, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.Konare, the former president of Mali, also wants to double the number of staff at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa to make the executive commission a more effective body.This would raise the commission’s annual budget to US$130 million.But the AU has collected only US$26 million from member states, and US$220 million a year is already earmarked for the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.Thiam said that, while the commission is looking for US$297 million, member states are believed to be willing to contribute US$160 million.The AU will probably then appeal to wealthy nations for financial support.Any agreement would have to be endorsed by AU heads of state at a yet-to-be scheduled summit.The AU was formed two years ago to replace the ineffective and cash-strapped Organisation of African Unity.- Nampa-AP

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