DECISION ON THE CHALLENGES OF RATIFICATION/ACCESSION
IMPLEMENTATION OF OAU/AU TREATIES
Doc. EX.CL/950(XXVIII)
The Executive Council,
1. ADOPTS the Progress Report of the Ministerial Committee on the Challenges of Ratification/Accession and Implementation of OAU/AU Treaties and the recommendations contained therein;
2. WELCOMES the following:
i) Efforts made by Members of the Ministerial Committee and the Commission in assisting some Member States on the establishment of the National Sectorial Committee on challenges of ratification/accession to enable better coordination with the relevant Ministries involved in the issue of ratification of/accession to, and implementation of OAU/AU Treaties at national Level;
ii) Efforts by Member States towards signature, ratification of /accession to OAU/AU Treaties during the period from January to December 2015.
3. APPEALS to Member States who have not yet done so to establish National Sectorial Committees, which will serve as national focal points to communicate information to the Ministerial Committee, through the Commission, on efforts made and challenges faced by each Member State in relation to the ratification of/accession to OAU/AU Treaties, as well as implementation;
4. INVITES Member States, through their respective Sectorial National Committees, to bring on board civil society organizations and the media to assist in the advocacy strategy to popularize African legal instruments domestically;
5. REITERATES its appeal to Member States to:
i) Prioritize and accelerate the signing and ratification of/accession to OAU/AU Treaties that promote African shared values which are the basis for Africa’s integration and necessary for the implementation of Agenda 2063, which pose no apparent contradiction with domestic legislation already in place ;
ii) Ensure that they comply with the decisions of the Policy Organs and initiate the process of ratification of new treaties within a period of one (1) year after its adoption in accordance with Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.459 (XVI) on the Status of Signature and Ratification of OAU/AU/ Treaties and the Harmonization of Ratification Procedures adopted by the 14th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2009.
6. REQUESTS the Ministerial Committee in collaboration with the Commission to:
Prepare a detailed program of action to be presented together with the recommendations adopted in this report including providing statistics and patterns on ratification of and accession to existing legal instruments as well as a draft time frame of sensitization missions scheduled to Member States;
Convene a brainstorming session on the challenges of ratification for all National Sectorial Committees of Member States at regional level;
Identify mechanisms for monitoring implementation of OAU/AU Treaties to facilitate compliance by Member States;
Ensure the review and alignment of legal instruments of the African Union to avoid duplication of issues;
Ensure that the Ministerial Committee meets in ordinary sessions once a year on the margins of the ordinary session of the Executive Council in June/July instead of January as provided for in Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure of the AU Ministerial Committee on the Challenges of Ratification/Accession and Implementation of the OAU/AU Treaties. The Ministerial Committee shall hold its sessions at the same venue as the ordinary sessions of the Executive Council and present its report to the Executive Council thereon.