CM/Res.962 (XLI)
RESOLUTION ON THE SPECIAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FUND FOR DROUGHT AND FAMINE IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity meeting in its Forty- first ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 25 February to 4 March 1985,
Recalling Resolution AHG/Res.133 (XX) by which the Assembly of Heads of State and Government decided to establish a Special Emergency Assistance Fund for Drought and Famine in Africa,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General a.i. Doc.CM/1285 (XLI) containing the proposals for operation of the Special Fund,
Conscious of the urgency and gravity of the social and economic problems confronting African countries affected by drought and famine,
Fully conscious of the need to mobilize all efforts and resources for providing urgent relief assistance to African States suffering from the ravages of drought and desertification,
Aware of the need to launch immediately the Fund and to ensure the early commencement of its operation:
DECIDES that the Special Emergency Assistance Fund for Drought and Famine in Africa shall commence its operations immediately;
FURTHER DECIDES to immediately create in Interim Policy Committee composed of the following 12 representatives of Member States, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania which shall:
act as the supreme organ of the Fund whose functions shall include policy determination and the drawing up of the criteria for approval of loans or grants including their terms and conditions;
select beneficiary countries and decide on the amounts of grants or loans, as appropriate, which shall be given to them;
take appropriate measure and actions to mobilize resources for the Fund;
draw up the Statute for the Fund for the consideration by the Forty-second Session of the Council of Ministers;
draw up its rules and operating procedures by referring to the report of the Forty-first Session of the Council of Ministers.
DECIDES that the financial resources shall be entrusted to the African Development Bank (ADB) for administration and management for the purposes stated in Resolution ANG/Res.133 (XX) of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU;
AUTHORIZES the Secretary-General of the OAU to conclude with ADB a suitable provisional Trust Instrument for the purposes mentioned above;
CALLS ON the Secretary-General of the OAU to lend the Interim Policy Committee, the necessary administrative support for the execution of its mandate on the basis of the existing means and facilities within the Secretariat;
DECIDES also that contributions to the Fund shall be voluntary, and shall be made in cash and that these contributions could be from African and non- African sources;
CALLS UPON all Member States of the OAU and the international community to contribute generously to the Fund.