EU steps up its support to the African Governance Architecture (AGA)
Today, the EU Ambassador to the African Union, Ms Birgitte Markussen, signed a contract with Expertise France’s Director General, Mr Jérémie Pellet, to implement the Technical Assistance component of the EU’s new AGA-Support Project (AGA-SP). They were joined by the Head of the AGA Secretariat, Ambassador Salah S. Hammad,
Expertise France will work alongside the AGA Secretariat and help coordinate the EU’s new 25 million euros AGA Support Project (AGA-SP) targeted at key AGA organs and Pan-African civil society.
The Joint Africa-EU Strategy put democratic governance and human rights at the heart of the bi-continental partnership. The EU has long been working with the African Governance Architecture via a number of interventions supporting the African human rights system, AU electoral observation capacity and the AU Commission at large.
“More than ever, the EU believes in the necessity to promote democratic governance principles and respect for human rights in the current period troubled by the COVID epidemic.
This event demonstrates that the objective of the EU aligns with that of the AU when it comes to reinforcing the core mandates of the AGA Platform members and help them achieve more impact on AU member states and citizens” said Ambassador Markussen.
Expertise France will collaborate with other African and European institutions to identify and provide long- and short-term assistance over the next four years to answer the needs of various AGA Platform members. It will recruit a core team of two senior experts to reinforce the AGA Secretariat in Addis Ababa and help coordinate the input of other experts who will be deployed across the continent to work alongside key AGA organs.
The AGA-SP foresees the signatures of additional grant agreements totalling 11 million euros to provide direct financial assistance to five AGA organs, namely the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR), and the Pan African Parliament (PAP).
Expertise France will be able to mobilise its experience of regional programmes and support to civil society & citizens participation to add value to the civil society dimension of this AGA-SP, which will attribute further funding to two consortiums of leading African and European civil society organisations selected via a call for proposals.
Note for the Editor
About the African Governance Architecture (AGA)
The African Governance Architecture (AGA) established by the African Union and Heads of State and Government in July 2010 is a dialogue mechanism to promote good governance and consolidate democracy. AGA is also key in promoting the implementation of objectives outlined in the legal and policy pronouncements in the African Union Shared Values. The AGA Platform serves as the coordinating arm or catalyst for the achievement of the goals
The African Governance Platform is the operating arm of the AGA, its current members consisting of institutions and African Union organs with a formal mandate on governance, democracy, human rights, elections and humanitarian assistance.
The AGA Secretariat is housed in the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC) and serves as the coordinating hub of the Platform.
For more information, visit: https://au.int/en/aga
About the European Union (EU)
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union between 27 European countries.
The EU has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency: the euro. More than 340 million EU citizens in 19 countries now use it as their currency and enjoy its benefits.
As enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, ‘the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail’.
For more information, visit https://europa.eu/european-union
About Expertise France
Expertise France is a public agency and a key actor in international technical cooperation. It designs and implements projects that sustainably strengthen public policies in developing and emerging countries. Governance, security, climate, health, education. It operates in key areas of sustainable development and contributes alongside its partners to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
For more information, visit https://www.expertisefrance.fr
For More Information
EU Delegation to the African Union
Biruk Feleke - Press and Information Officer
P: +251 11 416 37 00
E:Biruk.FELEKE@eeas.europa.eu (link sends e-mail)
AGA Secretariat
Amb. Salah S. Hammad - Head of the AGA Sec.
P: +251913057711
Expertise France
Anaïs Rieu – Head of Communication
P: : +33 (0)1 70 82 71 12
