DECISION ON THE REPORTS OF THE
SPECIALISED TECHNICAL COMMITTEES (STCs)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the reports of the Specialised Technical Committees (STCs) and adopts the recommendations contained in the reports;
A. STC ON AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT
2. REQUESTS the Commission for a study on the establishment of a Fund for Responding to Emerging Pests in Africa in accordance with relevant AU regulations;
3. ALSO REQUESTS the PRC to establish a Sub-Committee on environmental issues.
B. STC ON MIGRATION, REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS(IDPs)
a) On the Draft Protocol to the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and right of establishment:
4. REQUESTS the Commission to:
i) convene a meeting of Member States Immigration Chiefs to develop guidelines and specifications for the design, production, issuance and use of the African Passport as launched by Heads of State and Government in July 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda;
ii) submit to the PRC, through its relevant Sub-Committees, a proposal to reinforce the human resources capacity of the Commission to facilitate the realisation of the Implementation Roadmap, highlighting structural, financial and legal implications in accordance with AU rules and regulations;
iii) regularly provide a report on the status of implementation of the Protocol and its Implementation Plan.
b) On Migration Policy Framework 2018-2030
5. ADOPTS the revised Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) - 2018-2030 and the Plan of Action (2018-2030) annexed to the Migration Policy Framework;
6. ENCOURAGES Member States to align their policies to the Migration Policy Framework in order to facilitate proper migration management and governance;
7. REAFFIRMS Decision EX.CL/Dec.314 (IX) on the creation of the African Centre for the Study on Migration and REQUESTS the Commission, in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Mali, to expedite the process towards the establishment of the Centre by submitting to the relevant AU Policy Organs, the structural, financial and legal implications of the establishment of the Centre;
8. REQUESTS the Commission to conduct a mid-term assessment in 2024 and end term evaluation in 2030 of the Implementation of the Migration Policy Framework;
c) On the AU Horn of Africa Initiative (AU-HoAl) on Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants
9. COMMENDS the Member States of the Initiative for the progress made and ENCOURAGES them to continue dialogue and collaborate in tackling organized criminal groups;
10. URGES that the Initiative be sustained and replicated to other trafficking and smuggling routes across the continent and also extend the operational mechanisms for the Initiative to other Regions including the G5 Sahel countries;
11. REQUESTS the Commission to expedite the establishment of the Regional Operational Centre in Khartoum (ROCK) and the Training Centre in Cairo for Law Enforcement and to facilitate the participation of other AU Member States, not part of the AU-HoAl, and RECs upon their request;
12. ALSO REQUESTS the PRC to allocate adequate resources for the implementation of the AU-HoAl activities;
13. RECOMMENDS that the Progress Report be transmitted to the Assembly.
d) On the Draft Common African Position (CAP) on the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
14. ADOPTS the Draft Common African Position as amended and TRANSMITS to Assembly for adoption, and subsequently to the African Groups in New York, Geneva and Brussels for use during multilateral negotiations;
15. URGES Member States to speak in one voice during the negotiations of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration while taking due consideration of the Common African Position;
16. ENCOURAGES Member States to be guided by the CAP in the negotiations of bilateral labour migration agreements;
C. STC ON EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
17. ADOPTS the common pedagogical contents developed on the basis of the General History of Africa and REQUESTS Member States to integrate them into their national curricula;
18. TAKES NOTE of the progress that the African Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) has made since its inception and its analysis of the first three emerging technologies on Gene Drive for control and elimination of malaria; Drones in the horizon: transforming Africa’s agriculture; and Micro-grid: empowering communities and enabling transformation in Africa;
19. REQUESTS the African Union and Member States to harness these emerging technologies for development initiatives;
20. ENDORSES the proposal to operationalize the Africa Virtual and e-University as the open, distance and e-learning arm of the Pan African University;
21. CALLS UPON Member States to support the Pan-African Synchrotron (initiative;
22. TAKES NOTE of the Skills Initiative for Africa as a continental programme for improving perspectives of young people in Africa through increased employment and income opportunities;
23. ENDORSES the Skills Initiative for Africa and the creation of World Skills Africa as programmes geared towards addressing skills shortages, mismatches and enhancing employment prospects for youth in Africa;
24. URGES Member States to contribute to the Continental Plan of Action for implementation of the Decade on Technical, Professional, Entrepreneurial Training and Youth Employment, and also develop National Implementation Plans in line with Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.652 (XXIX) of July 2017.
D. STC ON PUBLIC SERVICE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND DECENTRALIZATION (STC 8)
25. COMMENDS the Commission and the Republic of Congo for the leadership in the progress made on the implementation of activities of STC 8 and the level of its operationalization from 2015 to 2016;
26. TAKES NOTE of the prevailing challenges in Public Service, Local Government, Decentralization and Urban Development;
27. REQUESTS the Commission to submit the proposed structure to the competent PRC Sub-Committees, taking into account the relevant structural, financial and legal implications as well as the reform process of the Union.
E. STC ON FINANCE, MONETARY AFFAIRS, ECONOMIC PLANNING AND INTEGRATION
28. COMMENDS the work of the Commission supported by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in developing Agenda 2063 Financing, Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) and Partnership Strategy;
29. APPROVES the primary focus of Agenda 2063 financing and resource mobilization strategy on Domestic Resource Mobilization and SUPPORTS that Agenda 2063 financing and DRM strategy should be addressed across three interrelated dimensions:
i) Expanding and Mobilizing domestically-generated financial resources - namely through:
a) Optimized fiscal/public revenue collection and utilization,
b) Enhanced financial inclusion and domestic savings mobilization, and
c) Relevant innovations in DRM.
ii) Intermediating and Leveraging the savings/resources mobilized for the financing of Agenda 2063 projects through relevant intermediation vehicles; and
iii) Access to finance facilitation measures, namely through project development, project de-risking vehicles and guarantee/risk-sharing facilities.
30. CALLS UPON the Commission and the AfDB, in close collaboration with UNECA and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to prepare an “Agenda 2063 Financing and DRM Roadmap and Guide” based on the “Adopted Agenda 2063 Financing, DRM and Partnership Strategy” for widespread dissemination to Member States in close collaboration with Regional Economic Communities (RECs);
31. URGES the Commission, NPCA and AfDB, in close collaboration with UNECA, to create a Joint AUC-AfDB-UNECA Resource Mobilization Platform whose functions will include, among others, the implementation of the recommendations of Agenda 2063 financing and DRM Strategy;
a) On Agenda 2063 First Ten Year Implementation Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
32. APPROVES Agenda 2063 First Ten Year Implementation Plan (FTYIP) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework and Indicator Handbook by Member States as the basis for reporting on their obligations.
33. REQUESTS the Commission to:
i) roll out and domesticate the M&E Framework in all Regional Economic Communities, Member States and AU Organs to enable effective monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of Agenda 2063 FTYIP;
ii) continue with the design of the templates and formats for the M&E in a collaborative manner with RECs, Member States and Partners.
34. REQUESTS National Statistics Offices, in collaboration with National Planning Ministries and Agencies, to compile and manage statistical data based on the FTYIP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in addition to their on-going initiatives;
35. CALLS UPON Member States to provide the resources required by National Statistical Offices to carry out the work entailed by the execution of the FTYIP;
b) On the Pan African Investment Code
36. REQUESTS the Commission to submit the draft revised Pan African Investment Code (PAIC) to the STC on Trade, Industry and Minerals, as well as the relevant STCs, for consideration and refer to the STC on Legal and Justice Affairs for further consideration prior to their submission to the Executive Council.
c) On the Implementation of the Strategy for the Harmonisation of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA)
37. COMMENDS the progress made since the inception of the SHaSA in rallying along countries to give priority to statistical development, especially in the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, and Economics Statistics, among others;
38. WELCOMES the efforts by the Commission and AfDB, in collaboration with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), UNECA, the RECs and Member States to develop a draft of Second Strategy for the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA II);
39. ADOPTS SHaSA II as the Continental Strategy for the Development of Statistics in Africa for the next 10 years; and its action plan, financing plan and resources mobilisation strategy;
40. REQUESTS AfDB with the support of the Commission, UNECA and ACBF to lead the preparation of resource mobilisation strategy in support of SHaSA II; and mobilize the sustainable financial resources for the effective implementation of SHaSA II;
41. REQUESTS:
i) Member States to allocate 0.15% of their National budgets to finance statistics;
ii) the Commission to coordinate with UNECA, AfDB and other relevant stakeholders on the implementation of SHaSA II, and report regularly to the Assembly on progress made.
d) On the African Inclusive Markets Excellence Centre (AIMEC)
42. TAKES NOTE of:
i) the validation workshop on the Business Plan of the African Inclusive Markets Excellence Centre (AIMEC) that took place in Nairobi, from 21 to23 November 2016;
ii) the final report and Business Plan on the establishment of AIMEC, considering that such a Centre would make an immense contribution to the realization of Agenda 2063;
iii) the proposals from the Governments of Benin, Egypt, Tunisia and Zambia to host AIMEC and INVITES other interested Member States to submit their proposal to host;
43. ADOPTS the establishment of AIMEC and REQUESTS the Commission to submit the relevant structural, financial and legal implications, in line with the AU rules and procedures;
44. ALSO REQUESTS the Commission to ensure that the selection of the Member State to host AIMEC be carried out in conformity with the relevant criteria.
F. STC ON COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT)
45. ENDORSES the Draft Declaration on Internet Governance that contributes to exemplify and uphold the basic tenets of an open, accessible, resilient, interoperable Internet which led to its remarkable success today as well as form the foundation for any future engagements of all stakeholders in national, regional and international Internet-related policy making efforts;
46. REQUESTS the Commission to undertake the following, among others:
i) implement the Cyber Security as a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063;
ii) form an Africa Cyber Security Collaboration and Coordination Committee (ACS3C) to advise the Commission and policymakers on Cyber strategies; develop guidelines on Personal Data Protection; organize a yearly AU Conference on Cybersecurity in collaboration with Industry and Academia and establish a continental Cyber Security awareness month;
iii) speed up the establishment of the Dot Africa Foundation to support:
a) Capacity building in Internet sector;
b) Member States Country Codes Top Level Domain (ccTLD) registries;
c) The African Registrars Business development;
d) The creation of African content and Pan-African content;
e) Pan-African ICT/ Internet projects.
iv) allocate adequate resources for communicating the strategic framework Agenda 2063 by capacitating the Directorate of Information and Communication and the yearly organization of the African Internet Governance Forum;
v) work in collaboration with the Government of Tunisia and Partners to implement the Digital African Strategic Centre project;
vi) organize in collaboration with Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU), meetings to discuss Universal Postal Union (UPU) Reform and UPU key content issues and invite the Africa Support Committee, so as to save on costs;
vii) submit the legal, structural and financial implications of the proposed Cyber Security flagship project to the relevant policy organs;
G. STC ON JUSTICE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS
a) ON THE DRAFT LEGAL INSTRUMENTS
47. TAKES NOTE of the following Draft Legal Instruments:
a) Draft Statute of the Trust Fund for victims of Hissene Habre crimes;
b) Draft Amendments to Articles 10 and 14 of the Statutes of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union;
c) Draft Statute of the African Institute for Remittances;
d) Draft Institutional and Regulatory Texts of the Yamoussoukro Decision;
e) Draft Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to Free Movement of Persons, Rights of Residence and Right of Establishment and its Draft Implementation Roadmap;
f) Draft African Union Model Law for the implementation of the African Union Convention for the Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa;
g) Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disability in Africa;
h) Draft Statute of the African Space Agency.
48. DECIDES to recommend the Draft Legal Instruments and the Draft Amendments to the Assembly for consideration and adoption;
b) ON THE DRAFT RULES OF PROCEDURE OF SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL COMMITTEES AND OF THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL COUNCIL OF THE AFRICAN UNION
49. APPROVES the following Rules of Procedure:
a) Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee on Gender and Women’s Empowerment;
b) Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee on Trade, Industry and Minerals;
c) Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment;
d) Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee on Transport, Infrastructure, Transcontinental and Interregional Infrastructures, Energy and Tourism;
e) Amendment to Rule 37 of the Rules of Procedure of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union.