{"id":2535,"date":"2006-05-20T10:04:31","date_gmt":"2006-05-20T10:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/?p=2535"},"modified":"2014-09-08T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T10:20:30","slug":"a-continental-institution-harnessing-one-africa-one-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/southern-african-news-features\/a-continental-institution-harnessing-one-africa-one-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"A continental institution harnessing \u201cOne Africa, One Voice\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0SANF 06 No 39<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe Pan African Parliament is meeting in its fifth ordinary session, and is starting to address the magnitude of its challenges.<\/p>\n

A long-time dream of African political parties, individuals and institutions, the continental parliament now meets in South Africa twice a year, and in previous sessions has been debating largely the questions of logistics and resources for its own viability.<\/p>\n

The parliament is advisory for the first five years, not legislative, and thus faces the challenge of being taken seriously in its deliberations and interventions.<\/p>\n

However, one of the first indications that this body intends to be pro-active was its recent fact-finding mission to the Darfur region of Sudan, which recommended a larger and stronger role for the African Union in finding and keeping peace there.<\/p>\n

The Vision of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) is \u201cA continental institution harnessing One Africa, One Voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

This defines an institution that aspires to provide a common platform for African peoples to fully participate in decision-making processes for the political and socio-economic development and integration of the continent.<\/p>\n

Its core values are: Fundamental human rights; People-centredness; Subsidiarity and cooperation; and, Professionalism and good institutional governance.<\/p>\n

South Africa provides the premises for the PAP at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, and also the security arrangements, while most staff members are seconded from national parliaments.<\/p>\n

Member countries of the African Union pay the travel and accommodation expenses for their own nationals to attend.<\/p>\n

Resource mobilization for sustainability of the parliament and its activities has had top priority to date, and some national delegations have missed sessions due to a shortage of resources.<\/p>\n

A PAP trust fund is being established, and has attracted keen interest from various quarters, including some northern governments.<\/p>\n

Members of the PAP must be sitting members of parliament in their own countries, and if they lose their seat at home, they also forfeit the continental representation.<\/p>\n

Gertrude Mongella, MP, of the United Republic of Tanzania, is President of the Pan African Parliament.<\/p>\n

At the opening of the fifth session, Mongella spoke of the urgent need for resolution of the remaining conflicts on the continent, saying that, \u201cAfrica cannot develop in a situation of conflict in some countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peace and security on the continent is a central area of focus for the PAP, as well as development issues defined in the New Partnership for Africa\u2019s Development (NEPAD).<\/p>\n

Another issue for current consideration is the role of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the continent, which have different strengths and weaknesses and development trajectories.<\/p>\n

Other issues include the acceleration of integration mechanisms, and sharing of experiences and best practices.<\/p>\n

The Pan African Parliament was inaugurated on 18 March 2004, and the First Parliament is in session until 2009. The fifth ordinary session of the first parliament runs from 1-12 May 2006.<\/p>\n

Twenty-four new members were sworn in on 1 May, comprising new delegations such as Mauritius and also replacement of members who have lost their seats in national elections.<\/p>\n

Article 14 (2) of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament (2001), states that ordinary sessions may last for up to one month, and must take place at least twice a year.<\/p>\n

The previous session in late November 2005 coincided with the inauguration of the new Chamber of the Pan African Parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0SANF 06 No 39 The Pan African Parliament is meeting in its fifth ordinary session, and is starting to address the magnitude of its challenges. A long-time dream of African political parties, individuals and institutions, the continental parliament now meets in South Africa twice a year, and in previous sessions has been debating largely the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-southern-african-news-features"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sanf.gif?fit=147%2C144&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4h5b0-ET","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2548,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2535\/revisions\/2548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sardc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}