Your Excellencies, Ministers,

Your Excellency, Mr Amara Essy,

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the government and people of South Africa, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you to South Africa and the 3^rd Extra-Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council.

I am very happy that so many of you have come here, to help accelerate the pace of the important work that would ensure that we build strong structures and put together the necessary mechanism so that our continental organisation, the African Union (AU), is better able to face the many challenges confronting all our countries and peoples.

Once again, this demonstrates your continued and abiding faith in, and commitment to our continental body as well as your determination to strengthen our unity.

With just over a month left before the 2^nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, I am confident that this gathering will assist all of us to ensure that this important Summit Meeting takes us forward towards making the Union fully operational.

We have successfully concluded our business relating to the Amendments to the Constitutive Act. I would like to thank all who made this possible. I am confident that the process has helped to improve the structures and processes of the Union, to prepare it to carry out its tasks more efficiently and effectively.

As we discuss the various issues on the agenda particularly the various Organs of the African Union, I am sure that we would be guided by the need to achieve the central objectives of this continental body, which are democracy, peace, stability, development and prosperity.

In this context, in considering the recommendations relating to the Commission, we will be mindful of the critical role of this institution as the engine that must ensure that our Union and continent move forward with the necessary speed and determination.

Further, we are aware that the Common African Defence and Security Policy will guide the work of the Peace and Security Council. As such, we need to take into account the already established common ground as reflected in existing instruments, treaties and agreements that have been signed and ratified.

These include work that we have done regarding such issues as those of terrorism, landmines, small arms as well as humanitarian law. At the same time, this gives us an opportunity and poses a challenge to this leadership to set new standards, not only for the continent and the African people, but also for the international community.

We also have an opportunity to discuss the operationalisation of the Peace and Security Council. I would like to thank those member states that have already ratified the Protocol establishing this important structure and encourage those that are still in the process of doing so to do so without further delay.

In this regard, I trust that we will specifically consider the African Standby Force, which would be crucial to all future peace initiatives on the continent. As we know, the African Standby Force shall be established in order to enable the Peace and Security Council to perform its responsibilities with respect to the deployment of peace support missions and interventions pursuant to article 4(h) and (j) of the Constitutive Act.

All of us are aware of the challenges that face our continent with regard to peace and stability. We are aware of the debilitating negative consequences of conflicts and wars. We know that may of our countries are poor and underdeveloped and partly because many of our people have seen too much conflict, death and displacement.

Accordingly, we are agreed that we must continue to spare no effort to banish forever the wars and conflicts that are a serious obstacle to our common programme for the development of our countries and continent.

We are indeed happy that we have made progress with regard to the conflicts in Cote d’ Ivoire, Burundi, DRC, Sudan, Madagascar and Angola. We will continue to work together with the people of the Central African Republic to find a permanent solution to their problems.

The progress that we have made in most of these countries demonstrates in fact clearly that, as Africans, we can and must continue to solve our own problems, relying, in the main on our own efforts, determination and resources, however meagre these resources may be.

In addition, I would like to compliment everyone on the work that is being done to speed-up the process of the formation of the structures of the African Union – ECOSOCC, the Pan-African Parliament, the Court of Justice and the Financial Institutions as well as their Protocols, their Rules of Procedure. This includes the important matters of their hosting, costs implications and other related issues.

Indeed, numerous countries have indicated their willingness to host the different Organs of the African Union. I would like to urge those countries that have not yet considered the matter to finalise their own proposals and inform the Commission of their intentions.

As we deliberate on these matters, I believe it is important that we also remember our decisions and discussions in Durban on various health issues and the commitment we made to capacity building. We have a duty to deliver on these issues, even in the face of the pressing matters regarding peace and security in the different regions of the African Union.

Undoubtedly, part of our on-going challenge is the need to strengthen our Regional Economic Communities, ensuring that they function effectively and efficiently because, as we all know, these are important building blocks of the African Union and it is through them that we are able to advance the NEPAD programmes.

Chairperson, I look forward to the discussions on the ways and means of including the African Diaspora in the activities of the African Union. We all recall that when we discussed the amendments to the Constitutive Act we realised that there was a serious shortcoming on the omission of this important part of the African people.

I think we appreciate that these are so many of our own, all over the world, who are enthusiastic and willing to make their contribution to the regeneration of their mother continent. This, they want to do, because their roots run very deep into the African soil.

This afternoon the Speaker of our National Assembly formally handed to us as the Chair of the African Union, the Report of the Commission on Human Security. I believe that we will have to take steps to make the Report available to all our member states, as well as our Commission. I am certain the Report will further strengthen our work as we strive to build people-centred societies.

Recent international events have confirmed the need for us as Africans to do everything we can to rely on our own capacities to secure our continent’s renaissance. The African Union and its development programme, NEPAD, are the central instruments we have chosen to help us achieve this objective. A heavy responsibility therefore rests on your shoulders, as our Executive Council, to ensure that we succeed in our purposes.

I thank you and look forward to our Maputo Assembly meeting where, I am confident, we will benefit from the hard work you are now engaged in. I trust that you will enjoy both your work and your stay in South Africa.