AU adopts a definition of the African diaspora

The AU is launched in Durban, succeeding the OAU. It carries forward a Pan-African ambition for integration and collective action, but its effectiveness remains shaped by member-state politics,...

An AU extraordinary summit approved an amendment explicitly inviting and encouraging full participation by Africans in the diaspora in building the Union. It gave institutional form to a long-standing...

The African Union adopted the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Women’s movements and advocates had pressed for protections on equality, health, political participation and freedom from...

The Pan-African Parliament opened in Addis Ababa, giving national legislators a continental forum. Its original advisory role limited popular legislative power, but its creation embodied a claim...

The first conference brought African and diaspora intellectuals together around cultural memory, development and renewed transatlantic connection. Its discussions treated the diaspora as a political...

The AU adopted a charter linking popular participation, human rights and democratic governance to continental unity. It set regional standards against unconstitutional changes of government, though...

The AU adopted the first continental treaty focused on internally displaced people. It recognized state responsibility and the effects of conflict, disasters and development projects, connecting...

The AU and South African government hosted the first Global African Diaspora Summit in Sandton. Delegates adopted a declaration on partnership and development, making diaspora engagement a formal...

African leaders and civil society mark fifty years since the OAU’s establishment and renew the continental integration project. The anniversary also prompted debate over unrealized unity, democratic...

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2015–2024 the International Decade for People of African Descent, recognizing justice, development and cultural recognition as linked concerns. The resolution...