Your Excellency, Mr Amara Essy, Interim Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union

Commission of the African Union

Honourable Ministers

Distinguished Delegates

I have the honour and privilege to welcome you all to this 2^nd Extra-ordinary Session of the Executive Council here in Addis Ababa, the Headquarters of the African Union. It is indeed a pleasure to see so many of you once again and may I wish all Africans a peaceful and productive 2003.

First and foremost, let me express our appreciation to both the Commission of the African Union as well as the government and people of Ethiopia for their efforts in making the excellent arrangements for the preparation of this session.

I also wish to take this opportunity on behalf of this meeting to congratulate the great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on its election as Chair of the current session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Colleagues, you will recall that pursuant to the Durban Decision adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2002, this forum convened its 1^st Extra-ordinary Session in Tripoli, Libya, from the 9^th to 11^th December 2002 to consider the amendments to the Constitutive Act proposed by six member States.

At that session, the Executive Council proceeded with its work with a great sense of purpose and held in-depth deliberations on each of the proposed amendments, which covered a broad spectrum of the articles of the Constitutive Act. For purposes of expediency, Council agreed that the proposed amendments that presented the possibility of prolonged discussions without reaching early consensus would be put aside and referred to an ad hoc Ministerial Committee for deeper reflection. It also referred to the Committee certain of the proposed amendments that it accepted but which required further examination in terms of their practical modalities.

Consistent with this mandate, the ad hoc Committee comprising of the sixteen regionally elected Member States and the Chairperson of council met, at the invitation of my government, from the 20^th to 21^st January 2003 in Sun City, South Africa.

Honourable Ministers, I am pleased to announce that the meeting was well attended and held in a cordial yet incisive manner. The Report before you for your consideration is a product of the Sun City deliberations. The ad hoc Committee was able to reach agreement and make recommendations on five of the six proposed amendments referred to it except on the matter of languages. The wise counsel of this house is therefore sought on all areas of the Report before you and particularly on the issue of Official and working languages.

Colleagues, in the consideration of the ad hoc Committee’s report and recommendations, I am certain that you will once again engage in constructive deliberations. In submitting this Report, may I call for your usual cooperation and support so that we may conclude our work timeously and prepare to receive our political principals.

Besides this important matter, there are a few other issues on which your attention will be required. It will be recalled that Assembly decided in Durban last July to appoint the Commissioners of the African Union at its Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003. It is therefore necessary for this Council to consider the recommendations of our Permanent Representatives on the modalities for the election of Commissioners.

This opportunity should also be used to remind ourselves of the need to act speedily on those outstanding issues that have an impact on the early operationalisation of the African Union and its efficient functioning. I once again urge all Member States that have not signed or ratified the Protocols Establishing the Pan African Parliament and the Peace and Security council to do so at your earliest convenience.

I also have the honour to inform that shortly we will be convening a meeting of experts of Member States to consider a Draft African Common defense and Security Policy. I trust that you will offer your usual cooperation in expediting the entry into force of these Protocols.

We are meeting at a challenging time in the history of Africa and the world. Africa is facing challenges in Cote d’Ivoire and Central African Republic. At the same time there are positive developments in Sudan, Burundi, DRC and Angola. The world today is facing a looming war on Iraq, with serious repercussions for all of us.