In his first New Year message to ”all citizens of Africa” since assuming office in September, African Union (AU) chief Alpha Konare said he was fully aware of the ”deep aspirations and high expectations” of Africans for greater peace and security and easier movement of persons and goods.
The former President of Mali expressed the conviction that the New Year would usher in more hope in these areas, adding that 2004 had been proclaimed ”the Year of the Family, the Year of Tolerance, and the Year of Physical Education and Sports”.
Konare noted that some of the most protracted conflicts in Africa were ”quieting down” such as in Angola and Rwanda, while in the Sudan the opposing parties were poised to sign a peace agreement in the coming days.
On Burundi, he made an urgent appeal to the FLN faction, which has not yet signed the peace agreement, to join the peace process. He said the Somali people should come together and agree on a consensual framework for peace.
”Without peace, there will never be a state, and without state, there can’t be any rule of law,” the AU chief noted in his New Year message. He recognised that major steps had been taken towards peace in Ivory Coast, but said they should be consolidated through sustained implementation of the Marcoussis and Accra Agreements.
”Peace is won on daily basis, through compromises, mutual concessions and genuine African representation and negotiation capacity,” he said.
”We will translate all these wishes into a shared vision of the African Union, a strategic plan and a four-year programme for 2004-2007, to be submitted to our policy organs,” he added.
On Nepad — the New Partnership for Africa’s Development ‒ he said its main aim was to ”mobilise local resources” but that foreign investment was ”obviously needed”.
He said that 2004 would be a crucial year for the AU, during which the Pan-African Parliament, the African Peace and Security Council, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights would be launched.
The chairperson of the AU Commission also called on all Africans to fight the scourge of Aids.
”Our continent is under a state of health emergency. We should face this reality in order to promote the image of a winning Africa,” Konare said. – Sapa-DPA