CM/Res.915 (XXXVIII)
RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN AFRICA ON THE 0AU BUREAU FOR REFUGEES AND OTHER OAU REFUGEE
ORGANS
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty-eighth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22 to 28 February, 1982.
Having carefully considered the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the General Secretariat in relation to refugees in Africa and the report of the Fourteenth Ordinary Session of the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees together with the recommendations contained therein on the OAU organs involved in refugee affairs,
Having further reviewed the documents pertaining to the strategy and actions related to the implementation of the recommendations of the 1979 Arusha Conference on the situation of Refugees in Africa, and aware of the existence of the Joint OAU/UNHCR Working Group on the implementation of Arusha recommendations,
Cognizant of the fact that the refugee situation currently obtaining in Africa is fundamentally different from that which was prevailing when the OAU refugee serving organs were first set up more than a decade ago,
Recalling all its previous resolutions on refugee issues and more particularly those dealing with the OAU refugee serving organs, i.e. CM/Res.244 (XVIII), CM/Res.296 (XIX), CM/Res.329 (XXII), CM/Res.346 (XXIII), CM/Res.727 (XXXIII):
DECIDES THAT:
Henceforth, the General Secretariat of the OAU will have a Bureau for Refugees (BR) which will substitute for the present Bureau for the Placement and Education of African Refugees (BPEAR);
The OAU Bureau for Refugees, under the guidance of the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees will be entrusted with the responsibility for defining refugee policies, strategies and programmes. The OAU Bureau of Refugees will also serve as the Secretariat of the Joint OAU/UNHCR Working Group on the implementation of the Arusha recommendations;
The OAU/BPEAR Co-ordinating Committee will continue to function as an Advisory and Co-ordinating Committee of the OAU Bureau for Refugees, but will henceforth be known as “OAU Co-ordinating Committee on Assistance to Refugees.” It will be composed of representatives from the inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations whose interests in activities in favor of, or contributions to, Africa refugee programmes can be supported by unquestionable evidence;
The Co-ordinating Committee under the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees will be responsible for:-
advising the OAU Bureau for Refugees on the general policies governing protection and assistance of refugees in Africa;
co-ordinating the efforts of its member organizations in order to enable the OAU Bureau for Refugees to discharge its duties as efficiently as possible;
assisting the OAU Bureau for Refugees in drawing up and implementing its programmes;
advising the Bureau on ways and means of translating into action the 1979 Arusha Conference recommendations;
assisting in raising funds for the operational budget of the Bureau;
examining the periodic reports of the OAU Bureau for Refugees and advising on their contents; and
participating in preparing the operational budget of the OAU Bureau for Refugees.
ADOPTS the rules of the OAU Co-ordinating Committee on Assistance to Refugees as recommended by the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees;
REQUESTS the Secretary-General of the OAU to closely follow-up the implementation of this resolution and to report on action taken to the Fortieth Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers.