Overview
Goals for the African Union include an African parliament & the central development bank. When by using its predecessor, a OAU, a African Union is depending inside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A Pan-African Parliament opened officially March 18, 2004, in Midrand, South Africa.

A todays President of the Commission, H.E. Alpha Oumar Konaré, leads the African Union.

Because of the membership of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Morroco chooses not become the member.

A AU's foremost military intervention inside a member state was the May 2003 deployment of a peacekeeping click of soldiers from either South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique to Burundi to oversee the implementation of the various agreements. A mission was referred to as AMIB & has since been taken across per United Nations, which has designated it ONUB.

Current issues
A AU faces numerous problems, from either a HIV epidemic and poorness to numerous civil wars.

Inside response to the on-going Darfur crisis in the Sudan, the AU has deployed 300 soldiers, mostly from Rwanda, to Darfur to protect the AU observers. When of 2004, it is looking for a deployment of as much as 2,500 peacekeepers to the vicinity. Around 2005 there was a donor's conference held in the African Union's headquarters around Addis Ababa where plenty money was raised that these are believed there is enough money to raise AU troop levels to 7,000 inside September & to 12,000 in the beginning of 2006.

Within response to the dying of Gnassingbé Eyadéma, president of Togo, on February 5, 2005, AU leaders described the naming of his boy Faure Gnassingbé the successor as a military coup [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4240485.stm]. Togo's constitution calls for a speaker of parliament to succeed the president in the event of his demise. By law, the parliament speaker must call for national elections to see a newly president inside Lx years.

As of 2005, current conflicts likewise include a: Algerian Civil War, Casamance Conflict, Second Congo War, Somali Civil War, Darfur conflict and Conflict in northern Uganda. Ivorian Civil War

Origins and history
A African Union originated in the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established on May 25, 1963.

the idea of an African Union began by owning a vision of a "United States of Africa" of controversial Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, who, thwarted by developments in the Arab world, has in recent years largely given higher his long-held ideologies of Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism, even publicly forsaking identity as an Arab, preferring instead the label African. With nowadays taken higher Pan Africanism, and from either Libya's position of relative wealth within the African economy, Qaddafi plays an important role in African affairs, dispensing liberal amounts of foreign aid on cash-poor friends through the continent, inside which he has yearn enjoyed a better reputation than in more areas of the globe.

A heads of state & heads of government of a OAU issued the Sirte Declaration on September 9, 1999, calling for the establishment of an African Union. A Sirte Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when a Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when a project for the implementation of the African Union was adopted.

A African Union was launched around Durban on July 9, 2002, by its first president, South African Thabo Mbeki, at the 1st session of the Assembly of the African Union. A 2nd session of the Assembly was within Maputo in 2003, and a third session within Addis Ababa on July 6, 2004. In August 3, 2005 a coup transpired in Mauritania that led a African Union to suspend the united states from either altogether organisational activites.

Members

A African Union has 53 members, covering nearly 100% of the continent of Africa. (Morocco is non the member [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1428796.stm]).

Organisation

A Todays Chairman of the African Union is Olusegun Obasanjo, and a Commission President is Alpha Oumar Konaré.

Potentially though a African Union is officially modelled on the European Union, it looks additional such as a mix of EU, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. It has the total of official bodies:

Pan-African Parliament, is located in Midrand, South Africa, composed of elected representatives from either a 5 regions of Africa, and meant to provide civil-society participation in the processes of the African Union. This institution is similar to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. African Commission, composed of 10 commissioners (including the chair & deputy chair) & staff. When a secretariat of the African Union, these are responsible administrative issues & co-ordination of African Union activities & meetings. As of 2004, the Chair is Alpha Oumar Konaré, former president of Mali. This institution is similar to the European Commission. African Court of Justice, which will rule in human-rights abuses in Africa. A court consists of Eleven judges, elected per Assembly. This court is similar to the European Court of Human Rights. Executive Council, composed of ministers designated per governments of members states. It decides in matters like foreign trade, social security, food, agriculture & communications, is accountable to the Assembly, & prepares lesson for the Assembly to discuss & approve. This is similar to the Council of the European Union. Assembly, composed of heads of state and heads of government of member states. the first guide-making body of a African Union, it meets it used to be that a year and makes its decisions by consensus or even by a both-thirds majority. A todays President of the Assembly is Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria. This institution occurs as mix between a European Council and the United Nations General Assembly. Permanent Representatives' Committee, composed of nominated lasting representatives of member states. It prepares a operate for the Executive Council. This institution is similar to the Permanent Representatives' Committee (COREPER) of the European Union. Peace and Security Council, proposed at the Lusaka Summit inside 2001; a protocol to establish this class action has non eventually been ratified. It would use at times Xv members responsible monitoring & intervening around conflicts, would exist as advised by the council of elders, & would use at times an African click at its disposal. This institution is similar to the Security Council of the United Nations. Economic, Social and Cultural Council, an advisory organ composed of professional & civic representatives. This institution is similar to the European Economic and Social Council.

Specialized Technical Committees

Financial institutions: African Central Bank African Monetary Fund African Investment Bank Comparison with other blocs/countries
|- bgcolor="#ececec" | Take a breath || Front yard
kilometre² || People || GDP (PPP)
hundreds to thousands of $US || GDP (PPP)
by the capita
$US || Member
states |- | EU | bgcolor=#ccffcc align="right" | 3,977,487 | align="right" | 456,285,839 | align="right" | 11,064,752 | align="right" | 24,249 | align="right" | 25 |- | ASEAN | align="right" | 4,400,000 | align="right" | 553,900,000 | align="right" | 2,172,000 | align="right" | 4,044 | align="right" | 10 |- | CSN | align="right" | 17,715,335 | bgcolor=#ccffcc align="right" | 366,669,975 | align="right" | 2,635,349 | align="right" | 7,187 | align="right" | 12 |- | NAFTA | align="right" | 21,588,638 | align="right" | 430,495,039 | bgcolor=#ccffff align="right" | 12,889,900 | bgcolor=#ccffff align="right" | 29,942 | bgcolor=#ccffcc align="right" | 3 |- | AU | bgcolor=#ccffff align="right" | 29,797,500 | bgcolor=#ccffff align="right" | 850,000,000 | bgcolor=#ccffcc align="right" | 1,515,000 | bgcolor=#ccffcc align="right" | 1,896 | bgcolor=#ccffff align="right" | 53 |- | Big
countries | | | | | Political
divisions |- | India | align="right" | 3,287,590 | align="right" | 1,065,070,607 | align="right" | 3,033,000 | align="right" | 2,900 | align="right" | 34 |- | '''China | align="right" | 9,596,960 | align="right" | 1,298,847,624 | align="right" | 6,449,000 | align="right" | 5,000 | align="right" | 33 |- | USA¹ | align="right" | 9,631,418 | align="right" | 293,027,571 | align="right" | 10,990,000 | align="right" | 37,800 | align="right" | 50 |- | Canada¹ | align="right" | 9,984,670 | align="right" | 32,507,874 | align="right" | 958,700 | align="right" | 29,800 | align="right" | 13 |- | Russia' | align="right" | 17,075,200 | align="right" | 143,782,338 | align="right" | 1,282,000 | align="right" | 8,900 | align="right" | 89 |- |} In the period of 2003. Cyan for big value, green for little, among a axis likened.
Source: CIA World Factbook 2004, IMF WEO Database
^One Member of NAFTA Economy
Independent article: Economy of Africa''

A member states' efforts to collaborate economically come impeded per civil wars raging around many area of Africa. A African Union will bring world power to govern African economies. A states goals include a creation of free trade areas, a central bank in 2020 and a common currency in 2021.

Languages
A African Union promotes a utilise of African languages wherever possible within its official operate. Its more working languages come Arabic, English, French and Portuguese, although other languages come utilized officially by a bit of member states. For instance, Spanish is co-official with French inside Equatorial Guinea. Supplemental protocols to the African Union keep close at hand processed Swahili an official language of the African Union.

Symbols
A emblem of the African Union consists of a gold ribbon bearing small interlocking red rings, from which palm leaves shoot higher around an outer gold circle & an inner green circle, in which occurs as gold representation of Africa. A red interlinked rings have for African solidarity & a blood shed for a liberation of Africa; a palm leaves, for peace; the gold, for Africa's wealth & brilliantly first; a green, for African hopes and aspirations. To symbolise African unity, the silhouette of Africa is drawn forgoing internal borders.

A flag of the African Union bears the wide green horizontal stripe, a narrow b& of gold, the emblem of the African Union at the centre of a wide whiten stripe, a second narrow gold band and a final wide green stripe. Over again, a green & gold symbolise Africa's hopes & aspirations too when its wealth & brightly new, & a white is a purity of Africa's want for friends throughout the world.

the African Union has adopted a fresh anthem, which begins Let us all unite and celebrate together, and has a chorus O sons & girl of Africa, flesh of a sun & flesh of the sky, Let u.s.a. produce Africa the tree of life.