AU adopts the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

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 Executive Council adopted a definition of the diaspora as a constituent part of the African family and called for diaspora participation in Union building. The policy was an institutional...

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...

The AU Assembly adopted a revised protocol envisioning the Parliament as a legislative organ and a platform for African peoples and grassroots organizations. The change expressed a more...