DECISION ON AFRICAN CANDIDATURES
WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
Doc. EX.CL/1004(XXX)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International System;
2. ENDORSES:
i) for the position of Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, during the elections scheduled for 2017, the candidatures of:
• Mr. Boualem BOUGUETALA from the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria;
• Judge Jose Luis Jesus from the Republic of Cabo Verde;
ii) for the position of Judge at the International Criminal Court, during the elections scheduled for November 2017, the candidatures of:
• Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa from the Republic of Uganda, in category A;
• Mrs Reine Alapini Gansou from the Republic of Benin in category
B; ’
• Ms Nthomeng Majara from the Kingdom of Lesotho, in category A.
iii) for the position of member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf for the period 2017-2022, during the elections scheduled for June 2017 in New York, the candidature of:
• Mr. Simon Njuguna from the Republic of Kenya;
• Mr. Domingos de Carvalho Viana Moreira of the Republic of Angola;
• Dr Estevao Stefane Mahanjane of Republic of Mozambique
iv) for the position of Judge the International Court of Justice, at the elections scheduled during the United Nations General Assembly in October/November 2017, the candidature of Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf from the Federal Republic of Somalia.
v) Chair of the 5th Committee of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, the candidature of Mr. Tommo Monthe of the Republic of Cameroon.
3. ALSO TAKES NOTE and decides to approve the following candidatures:
i) for the position of member of the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) during the elections scheduled for November 2017 in London, the candidature of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria;
ii) for the position of Vice-President of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, during the elections scheduled for 2017 in New York, the candidatures of:
• The Republic of Liberia, for West Africa;
• The Republic of Zimbabwe, for Southern Africa;
• The Republic of Madagascar, for East Africa;
• The Gabonese Republic, for Central Africa.
iii) for the position of member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, during the elections scheduled for 2017 in New York, the candidatures of:
• The Republic of Ghana and the Togolese Republic, for West Africa;
• The Republic of the Sudan, for East Africa;
4. Lastly, DECIDES:
i) Concerning the candidature of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the position of member of the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, during the elections scheduled for November 2017 in New York, the Committee recommended that consideration of this candidature be referred to the African Group in New York, in accordance with its mechanism for candidatures, taking due account of the fact that the position should be filled by Central Africa, based system in force for the rotation of this position between the North Africa and Central Africa regions;
ii) Having observed that the allocation of seats within United Nations organs is disproportionate, the Committee requested that the African Group undertake advocacy for an increase in the number of seats allocated to Africa;
iii) Concerning the position of Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, during the elections scheduled for October 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Committee decided to take note of the candidature of Dr. Cosmas Zavazava from the Republic of Zimbabwe and to leave the position open, since the elections will only be held in October 2018;
iv) To take note of the candidature of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire to host the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Sub-regional Office for West Africa;
v) Concerning cases of non-compliance by Member States with Executive Council Decisions EX.CL/Dec.917 (XXVIII) taken at the Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2016, as well as the Revised Rules of Procedure of the Committee:
• To take note of explanations provided by these States which evoked poor communication between their Permanent Missions, their capitals and the Commission, for which they expressed regret and apologized to the Organization with a promise that such incidents would never happen again;
• To excuse these States for the reasons mentioned above, in addition to the inadequate popularization of the provisions of the revised Rules of Procedure of the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International system;
• Also to inform Member States that such shortcomings would no longer be excused in the future and urged them all to cooperate in strengthening our mechanisms and to optimize chances for Africa to hold positions within the international system;
• That the Secretariat should organize a mission of the Chairperson of the Ministerial Committee to meet with the Permanent Missions of Member States to international organizations, in order to sensitize and brief them, as well as organize the different aspects and stages of management of African candidatures within the international system.
5. REQUESTS the Commission and Member States to disseminate the decisions taken by the policy organs of the African Union on candidatures within the international system and the common positions agreed on as soon as they have been adopted, to all African diplomatic missions in the world and urge them to respect the decisions:
6. ALSO REQUESTS Member States to direct their Representatives concerned to comply with the decisions of the Executive Council on elections in the international system and ensure regular monitoring with a view to improving the coordination of the African position;
7. FURTHER REQUESTS the Ministerial Committee, in collaboration with the PRC and the Commission, as well as the African Groups in New York, Geneva and other capital cities, to reflect on appropriate mechanisms which will facilitate monitoring and implementation of decisions, and make recommendations thereon to the next Council session scheduled in July 2017.