The Fifteenth Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Kampala 25th-27th July
The theme of the 15th Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government in Kampala was “Promoting Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa”. The choice of theme was appropriate as it is five years since the Maputo Plan of Action was adopted. This called for at least 15% of budgets to be spent on healthcare, but progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality has not kept up. The MDG’s are due in 2015. The Summit reaffirmed previous commitments and undertook to launch the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) by the African Union continentally and nationally, and to strengthen health services and systems in these areas. It undertook to provide sustainable funding to meet the Maputo target, and called on the Global Fund for the Fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB to create a new window to fund Maternal and Child Health. The Heads of State and Government appealed to development partners and donors to replenish the Global Fund during its October 2010 meeting and earmark funds for Maternal and Child Health. They agreed to set up a monitoring and evaluation framework at country level to monitor progress.
The Summit also spent a good deal of time on separate topics including Somalia and, following the Kampala bombings earlier in the month, on terrorism, as well as considering other items, including two items proposed by Libya which were rejected by the Assembly. One was on the suggestion that the mid-year AU Summits should be held in Sirte in Libya, rather than rotate as at present. The second was to reconsider the decisions taken on the timetable for changing the AU Commission into an Authority, agreed at Sirte last year.
In the debate on the Report of the Commission on implementation of the decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Heads of State and Government reiterated their commitment to fight impunity and to use African mechanisms to this effect. The ICC’s request to open a liaison office in Addis Ababa, an issue between the Commission and the ICC, was discussed, and rejected. The ICC was felt to display an egregious condescending attitude and unjust tendencies towards African states. Some states which are parties to the Rome Statute were concerned over balancing their obligations to the AU and to the Rome Statute. It was suggested that the hybrid court of Sudanese and African judges recommended by the Panel on Darfur would provide the best alternative for dealing with possible Darfur crimes. In its decisions, the Summit expressed its disappointment that the UN Security Council had not replied positively to the AU’s request to defer any proceeding against President Bashir. It reiterated its decision that AU member states should not co-operate with the ICC over President Bashir and requested members to honour their commitments under the Constitutive Act of the African Union.