CM/Res.336 (XXIII)
RESOLUTION ON THE DROUGHT
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity meeting in its Twenty Third Ordinary Session in Mogadiscio, Somalia from 6 to 11 June 1974,
HAVING HEARD the comprehensive statement by the Head of Zaire delegation, H.E. Mr. UMBA DI LUTETE Commissioner of State for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, on the situation in the drought-stricken countries and the measures which should be taken to ease the effects of the scourge and potential;
CONSIDERING the statements made by the various delegations and in particular the view expressed by the delegations of the affected countries;
CONSIDERING the dangerous proportions of the disaster and the unfortunate plight of thousands of citizens member States of our Organizations;
MINDFUL that various disasters can at any time befall different regions of our continent; CONVINCED that in these difficult moments Africa should stand on its own feet; CONVINCED of the need to draw up a comprehensive strategy at the continental level;
CONGRATULATES the delegation of Zaire on its commendable initiative,
INVITES the OAU Administrative Secretary General to appoint forthwith a permanent representative of the Organization to the Inter State Committee on Drought in Ouagadougou with a view to collecting all the necessary technical, economic and social information for the drawing up of an overall policy to check the disaster and to better harmonize joint action at the Continental;
DECIDES to favour our setting up of an emergency relief fund raised by obligatory subscriptions and voluntary contributions both African and non - African to be used to finance immediate action to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted peoples; this fund would be different from that deposited with the African Development Bank and designed to finance medium and long term operations;
DECIDES to set up a committee which would, in co-operation with the General Secretariat of the OAU Scientific Bureau and all other competent bodies to carry out detailed studies on the origin of the drought, its geographic spread and all other geo-climatic factors that my help to give a better knowledge of the phenomenon so as to be able to combat it more effectively. This committee would be composed of the following countries: Upper Volta, Morocco, Kenya, Zaire, Ethiopia and Algeria. Studies should be financed for the relief fund mentioned in article 3;
WELCOMES the Inter-State Committee on Drought set up by countries of the Sahnel; and
HOPES that other African countries affected by drought will establish at sub- regional level a body similar to the Inter-State Committee set up by countries of the Ouagadougou group with a view to jointly combating the phenomenon;
REQUESTS the Secretary General to keep the drought problem on the agenda of future sessions of the Council of Ministers and submit comprehensive reports and formulate recommendations for each of these sessions.