Friends of the African Union

We, the African Diaspora in the USA, can be a change Africa needs – now .

#justeconomy#UNUPR#UNUPR2017 Africa WeekAfrican Development BankAmbassador Arikana Chihombori-QuaoAU Sixth RegionFAU USAHBCUNEPADOffice of the Special Adviser on Africa

Proposed Agreement with African Civil Society and African Peoples (Wrapup from African Week 2017)

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Friends of the African Union (FAU), a Ohio Non Reporting Unincorporated Association, that includes FAU EDcorp, Inc. (a NY Public Benefit Company) report on the African Week 2017 held at the United Nations .


United Nations Africa week 2017 sponsored by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) who supports the work of African civil society organizations.

Preamble

Our African Civil Society history includes the transatlantic slave trade

The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in history, and undeniably one of the most inhumane. The extensive exodus of Africans spread to many areas of the world over a 400-year period and was unprecedented in the annals of recorded human history.

As a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade, the greatest movement of Africans was to the Americas — with 96 per cent of the captives from the African coasts arriving on cramped slave ships at ports in South America and the Caribbean Islands.

From 1501 to 1830, four Africans crossed the Atlantic for every one European, making the demographics of the Americas in that era more of an extension of the African diaspora than a European one. The legacy of this migration is still evident today, with large populations of people of African descent living throughout the Americas.

Commemorating the memory of the victims

In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/122 of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually.

The resolution also called for the establishment of an outreach programme to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the “causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice.

We, Friends of the African Union and aligned Civil Society Organizations are now in that period of the International Decade for People of African Descent through 2024 with action led by African Civil Society based on the proposed Africa Week 2017 wrap up Agreement, see Agreement with African Civil Society and peoples, based on supporting an Integrated, Prosperous, People-Centered and Peaceful Africa.

Proposed Agreement with African Civil Society and African Peoples

NOW during the United Nations Africa Week 2017 sponsored by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) who supports the work of civil society organizations, like Friends of the African Union (FAU) and New Future Foundation (NFF), through the publication of a number of reports highlighting their contributions to addressing issues on peace, security and development in Africa and maintains a NGO database of African civil society organizations aimed at promoting their accessibility to the UN;

FURTHERMORE, the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa partners with civil society organizations to organize thematic high-level events such as African Week 2017 whose theme for 2017 is: “Supporting an Integrated, Prosperous, People-centred, Peaceful Africa: Towards the Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

RECOGNIZING the role of civil society in Africa will continue to grow, as they are expected to be significantly involved in monitoring progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda at global level, as well as African Union’s Agenda 2063 and its first Ten-year Implementation Plan running from 2014 to 2023 at continental, regional and national levels, among others;

RECALLING the objectives and principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union and FAU’s participation in the 2013 review at the African Union’s Mission HQ to the United Nations;

ADDITIONALLY RECALLING the Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union adopted by the First Extra-Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2003, and in particular Article 3(q) which invites the African Diaspora to participate as an important component in the building of the African Union;

RECOGNIZING the need to build sustainable partnerships between the African continent and the African Diaspora through sustainable dialogue and effective collaboration with governments and peoples of different regions of the World in which the Diaspora populations are located;

HONORED to witness New Future Foundation was recognized by the Chairman of Africa Week 2017 on Oct 16th 2017 as representing at this historic event as the African Civil Society representative. New Future Foundation led a delegation that included FAU, FAU EDcorp, FAU USA, Cincinnati Empowerment Corporation/FAU Global Operations Center, Congress of Black Native Americans, Infinity Building Economics/Black Political Action Committee, the FAU Mighty Forefront, Black Methodist for Church Renewal Chapter of Keys of the Kingdom, a United Methodist Church, and CASH Community Development to this meeting. The delegation was led by Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely who carries the legacy of Queen Mother Audley Moore representing African Descendents of the Trans Atlantic Ocean of the Middle Passage and is an Ashanti Queen Mother. Queen Mother Moore was a leader and life member of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League founded in 1914 by Marcus Mosiah Garvey. She lived to be almost 100 years old and fought for reparations at the United Nations as the founder of the Committee for Reparations for Descendants of U.S. Slaves. Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely was a Community Fellow {1981-82} at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology {MIT}, an Education Policy Fellow {1982-83} of the International Education Leadership {IEL}, a Fulbright Scholar in Tanzania and Nigeria {1984-85}, Queen Mother Dr. Blakely received two Master of Education Degrees, from Harvard University {1982} and Teachers College, Columbia University {1983} and a Doctorate of Education Degree from Teachers College {1990}. She graduated from the Franciscan Handmaids of Mary College in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Religious Studies. She has published scholarly and popular books and articles on self-reliance, education, recreation, and culture.

COGNIZANT of the fact that culture and identity inform all facets of development;

ACKNOWLEDGING the need to celebrate and preserve the shared heritage between Africa and peoples of African descent in the Diaspora;

BEARING IN MIND that the African Diaspora represents a historical and evolving experience which calls for an approach that is sensitive to the specificities of the different regions;

AFFIRMING the need to promote South-South Cooperation as a framework for enhancing mutual development as well as Pan-African Solidarity;

REAFFIRMING the importance of women and youth as important pillars of our society that should be mainstreamed in all Diaspora discourses and actions;

LAUDING the efforts undertaken thus far to support Africa and African Diaspora process including organizational efforts, measures and strategies pursued by the African Union;

FURTHER RECALLING relevant African Union Decisions including Decision EX.CL/Dec. 5 (III) on the Development of the Diaspora Initiative adopted by the Third Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003, Decision EX.CL/Dec. 221 (VII) on the Africa-Diaspora Process adopted by the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in January 2006 and Decision EX.CL/Dec. 406 (XII) on the First African Union Diaspora Ministerial Conference adopted by the Twelfth Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January2008 on the modalities for Diaspora participation in the organs and activities of the Union and Decision Ass/AU/Dec.205(XI) adopted by the Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in July 2008 on the Africa Diaspora Summit, Decision, Ass/AU/Dec 354 (XVI) of the Sixteen Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2011 on the Roadmap for the Diaspora Summit, including the convening of a Technical Experts meeting in Pretoria, South Africa in February 2011 and Decision Ass/AU/Dec 367 (XVII) of the Seventeenth Ordinary Session of Assembly of the Union on the convening of a second Ministerial Conference on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2011 as well as Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 393(XVIII) endorsing the outcome and conclusions of the Second Ministerial Conference held in New York in September 2011.

ACKNOWLEDGE of the importance to the African Diaspora of the establishment of The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) under the provision of Articles 5 and 22 of the Constitutive Act;

ACKNOWLEDGING ECOSOCC Statutes, adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2004, define it as an advisory organ composed of different social and professional groups of AU Member States (Assembly/AU/Dec.48 (III)). The first ECOSOCC General Assembly was formally launched on 9 September 2008 in Dar es Salaam, UR of Tanzania.

RECALLING in 2014 the Friends of the African Union joined with the New Future Foundation on Sept. 15th 2014 to submit a solution to institutionalized federal racism in the United States of America as part of the United Nations Human Rights Commission Universal Periodic Review of the United States of America. Our submission was based on United Nations protocols used by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and based on the 10 areas of human rights focus as put forth by the US State Dept.. These included (1) civil rights, ethnic, and racial discrimination; (2) criminal justice issues; (3) indigenous issues; 4) national security; (5)immigration; (6) labor and trafficking; (7) economic, social and cultural rights and measures; (8) the environment; (9) domestic implementation of human rights, and; (10) treaties and international human rights mechanisms. Our solution uses Quantitative Easing as its main tool. Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by a central bank, in the case of FAU USA the US Federal Reserve System, to stimulate an economy when standard monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank implements quantitative easing by buying specified amounts of financial assets from commercial banks and other private institutions, thus raising the prices of those financial assets and lowering their yield, while simultaneously increasing the monetary base.

ACKNOWLEDGING that the Universal Periodic Review “has great potential to promote and protect human rights in the darkest corners of the world.” – Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.

KNOWLEDGABLE of the Structure of the United Nations, the African Union, the African Development Bank, The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the World Bank and the government of the United States as well as public and private sector finance do hereby commit to do this work so as to encourage the Diaspora to organize our self in a global network and to establish appropriate mechanisms that will enable our increasing participation in the affairs of the African Union as observers and eventually, in the future, as a sixth region of the continent that would contribute substantially to the implementation of policies and programmes.

Acknowledge the responsibility of the African Diaspora to fund and host rotational AU Diaspora Conference in Africa and in the Diaspora to review the implementation of this Programme of Action to hold the 9th Pan African Congress in the USA and shall have the following Committees and provide support for the development of action plans by the African Diaspora:

(1) Peace and Security;

  1. Peace and Security Council
  2. The African Standby Force
  3. African Peace and Security Architecture
  4. Creation of an international chapter of the National Association for Black Veterans called the African Universal Legion

(2) Political Affairs;

  1. Study of the Constitutive Act of the African Union
  2. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
  3. African Peer Review Mechanism
  4. African Civil Society Organizations Stakeholders Engagement
  5. African Slavery
  6. The Federalist Movement in Africa
  7. The United Nations and Africa
  8. The United Nations Commission for Africa
  9. The United States of America and Africa based on current and former treaties such as the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 which was a meeting between European nations and the United States of America to create rules on how to peacefully divide Africa among them for colonization and to stop slavery.
  10. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Africa
  11. Africa–South America (ASA) Summit
  12. The Africa–Arab Partnership
  13. Morocco and Africa
  14. The Africa–European Union (EU) Partnership
  15. China–Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC)
  16. India and Africa
  17. Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)
  18. Turkey and Africa
  19. The Korea–Africa Forum
  20. The Africa–Australia partnership
  21. African Diaspora Matters in the USA based on the Congressional Black Caucus May 2017 Plan of action revisited to create $3T partnership between the USA, the African Union, the African Development Bank, African Civil Society and allies.

(3) Infrastructure and Energy;

  1. Energy, nonrenewable
  2. Energy, Solar
  3. Sustainable Transport Policy in Africa
  4. Single Air Transport Market
  5. Infrastructure
  6. Tourism

(4) Social Affairs and Health;

  1. Health
  2. Children
  3. Drug control
  4. Population
  5. Migration
  6. Labor and Employment
  7. Family
  8. Aging
  9. The physically challenged
  10. Sports
  11. Youth and Protection
  12. Social Integration

(5) Human Resources, Science, and Technology;

  1. Education
  2. Literacy
  3. Information technology
  4. Communication
  5. The Internet ie DOT Africa
  6. Human resources
  7. Technology

(6) Trade and Industry;

  1. Trade
  2. Industry
  3. Handcrafts
  4. Customs and immigration matters

(7) Rural Economy and Agriculture;

  1. Briefing on the African Union Commission Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
  2. Discussion on genetically modified organisms and the food chain
  3. Briefing on the Malabo Declaration on African agricultural transformation
  4. Briefing on the implementation of The Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture’s flagship programme the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)
  5. Discussion on African Agricultural Development and Food Security
  6. Proposal discussion to the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC)
  7. Briefing on the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR)
  8. Briefing on the Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Centre (PANVAC)
  9. Briefing on the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC)
  10. Briefing on the Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (SAFGRAD)
  11. Briefing on the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC) and planning session for COP 23
  12. Reports on Accra hosts 7th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS)
  13. Planning session for the 8th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security (ADFNS)based on this year’s celebration themed “Investing in Food Systems for Improved Child Nutrition: Key to Africa’s Renaissance
  14. African Agricultural Logistics Infrastructure
  15. African Environment and Climate Change Facts
  16. Planning session for the 1st Conference for the Promotion of Africa-Americas Trade and Investments for Accelerated Agricultural Development and Enhancing Food Security
  17. National Black Council Of Elders Agricultural Plan
  18. National Black Council Of Elders Trust to Awake the African Sleeping Giant
  19. FAU African Water, Land and Natural Resource Management Plan of Action
  20. Create a NFF driven program for Historic Black Colleges and Universities to be the leader in the creation of a student internship program in farming and agriculture in the 55 Nations of the African Union. This program will also have additional membership and collaboration levels.

(8) Economic Affairs;

  1. Briefing on The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with a focus on Tim Scott, South Carolina (the only Republican African American Senator and along with Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey, Scott is one of two African Americans serving in the United States Senate.) and Sherrod Brown, Ohio, Ranking Member, Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts and Chuck Schumer, New York
  2. Briefing on The United States House Committee on Financial Services with a focus on Maxine Waters, California, Ranking Member and fellow Congressional Black Caucus members Joyce Beatty, Ohio; Al Green, Texas; David Scott, Georgia; Gregory W. Meeks, New York; Terri Sewell, Alabama; Gwen Moore, Wisconsin; Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri, and Keith Ellison, Minnesota.
  3. Briefing on the Bank for International Settlements
  4. Discussion on Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) Federal Open Market Committee meeting Jan 31 to Feb 1st
  5. What is Quantitative Easing and Monetary Policy with a Audits of the US Federal Reserve and GAO Audit of FRB Quantitative Easing in 2010
  6. Discussion on Japanese Quantitative Easing Authority 2016/7 purchases of over $700B USD by Bank of Japan
  7. Briefing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
  8. Briefing on the World Bank Group (WBG) based on the 16th Annual International Conference on Policy Challenges for the Financial Sector central theme of this year’s conference was “Finance in Flux: The Technological Transformation of the Financial Sector”.
  9. Briefing on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
  10. Briefing on the G20
  11. Briefing on the African Central Bank which is to be the sole issuer of the African Single Currency by 2028 and its member central banks who are members of the Association of African Central Banks
  12. Briefing on the African Monetary Fund whose adoption took place at the end of the 23rd summit of African Heads of States and Governments the 28th of June 2014 and whose main objective is to provide financial assistance to member states of the African Union faced with balance of payments problems. It is also created to advance the monetary integration in Africa in the coming decades like in the case of the Schengen countries and the Euro (€).
  13. Briefing on the African Investment Bank whose mandate was envisioned to aid in fostering economic growth and accelerating economic integration in Africa in line with the AU’s Strategic Plan
  14. Briefing on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
  15. Discussion on a 2017 update to the African Civil Society Declaration on NEPAD based on a new regional economic community in the USA
  16. Discussion on a 2017 Proposal to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion based on the Maya Declaration
  17. Briefing on Cyber Currencies and Blockchain Technology
  18. Briefing on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
  19. Briefing on African Stock Exchanges and proposal to the African Securities Exchanges Association(ASEA) which is the premier Association of 25 (Black Wall Street) securities exchanges in Africa (out of 29 in existence plus the new Stock eXchange we are creating).
  20. Briefing on the FAU African Dollar

(9) Women and Gender;

  1. Discussion of Strategic Agreement with New Future Foundation and the work of African American women in the United Nations
  2. Discussion of Women and Equality
  3. Discussion on FAU’s participation in the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women that took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14 to 24 March 2016 with New Future Foundation and preparation for the sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017 the Priority theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work
  4. African Woman’s Organizations
  5. African American Woman’s Organizations
  6. Women in Business
  7. Women’s Education
  8. Women and the Family
  9. Women in Politics
  10. Planning at the Million Women March in 2017 for the 56th Anniversary of the Pan African Women’s Organization on July 31st 2018.

(10) Cross-Cutting Programmes

  1. Briefing on HIV/AIDS and the people of Africa
  2. Briefing on African People With Disabilities
  3. Briefing on the action plan with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with King Joseph
  4. Briefing on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with Zimbabwe
  5. Briefing on the East African Community (EAC) with Kenya
  6. Briefing on the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)
  7. Briefing on the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
  8. Briefing on the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
  9. Briefing on the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
  10. Briefing on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
  11. Briefing on the The Fifth Annual High Level Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Africa: Trends, Challenges and Prospects, Arusha, the United Republic of Tanzania that will be held November 23, 2016 to November 26, 2016
  12. Briefing on the 10th Session of the Committee of Directors Generals of National Statistics Office (CoDGs) and 5th session of the Statistical Commission for Africa (STATCOM-AFRICA) held at Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 28 November – 2 December 2016
  13. International cooperation and coordination with other AU institutions and organs not mentioned
  14. International cooperation and coordination with other United Nations institutions and organs not mentioned as a Regional Economic Community in the USA
  15. Strategic Planning & Partnerships for the Proposed 9th Pan African Congress Planning Session for a new Regional Economic Community in North America- The United States of America, Government of Canada, United Mexican States and Government of Bermuda
  16. Creating the framework for the UN Sustainable development goals applied to the USA through community benefit agreements using the Daniels IDIQ.
  17. Adding support, by the actions of members of the Sixth Region, to the 50 year plan of the African Union called Africa 2063.
  18. Create in North America an annual meeting during Kwanzaa that reviews The UN International Decade for People of African Descent and proposes a next year plan of action based on this document.
  19. Create in the United States of America a unsolicited proposal based on statements in the interagency response set forth by the US State Department to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the USA in 2015 (#UNUPR) that said “Civil Rights, Ethnic, & Racial Discrimination” is the number one human rights problem in the USA and uses the 2019 #UNUPR of the USA as a basis to present to the working group of The UN International Decade for People of African Descent a solution for the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of African slavery in the United States of America (USA and or America) between 1787 & 1865 and progenitors to the 13 American colonies between 1619 & 1787 & its effects subsequently de jure & de facto of racial & economic discrimination on the descendant Americans of America’s African slavery. It will address the damage incurred by past & current federal government racism against freed African Slaves in the USA from 1865 to 1867 & African Americans from 1867 to 2017. It will be a stimulus to the American Economy that (1) is judicious & addresses solutions to lead poisoning in 7M USA dwellings; (2) answers under the control of our Federal Executive Branch to the statements in the interagency response set forth by the US State Department to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the USA in 2015 that said “Civil Rights, Ethnic, & Racial Discrimination” is the number one human rights problem in the USA; (3) draws on already established Executive authority & market infrastructure; (4) helps the other Americans through indirect associations by creation of supportive ancillary jobs & entrepreneurial opportunities thereby supporting the advancement of the American people as a whole, and; (5) is just adequate enough to implement real changes that reverse long-standing conditions caused by systemic de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination, as documented in depth elsewhere, that provides a means from 2017 to 2117 to address these issues with the creation of a 100-year $5T Quantitative Easing based debt purchasing program (The Daniels IDIQ) and a capital trust to do so.
  20. Commitment to the African Union African Diaspora Health Initiative as a priority project that has two phases. Phase I – the current program. Phase II – Version 2.0 of the African Union African Diaspora Health Initiative which is based on creating a billion dollar financial technology company that specializes in health with the people of the African Diaspora in the USA and allies.

So we sign as African Civil Society Organizations and or their representatives

Friends of the African Union et. al.

So we sign in support as individuals