DECISION ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE BAHIR DAR MINISTERIAL
RETREAT OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Doc. EX.CL/Retreat/Rpt(XXIV)
The Executive Council,
ENDORSES the Outcomes Document of the Bahir Dar Ministerial Retreat of the Executive Council, 24-26 January 2014, hosted by the Chairperson of the Executive Council, the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and DECIDES on the following:
1. The institutionalization of an Annual Foreign Ministers Retreat to be held before the January Summit, around a specific theme or themes, to enable brainstorming, joint strategizing and monitoring of continental priorities.
2. The establishment of a Ministerial Committee on Agenda 2063 that will provide political direction to the development of the final document and report to the Executive Council on implementation. The membership of the Committee are the Retreat Moderators Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Ghana and Rwanda, the Chairs of the eight officially recognised Regional Economic Communities as well as the outgoing and incoming Chairperson of the Executive Council. The Chairperson of the Commission, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Agency, President of the African Development Bank, and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa shall also be part of this Committee. The tenure of this Committee shall be two years, following which the membership shall be reviewed, taking into account the spirit of rotation and regional balance.
3. The creation of an Annual Africa platform for regular engagement between the political leadership, business leaders, intellectuals, the private sector and civil society on issues of economic transformation and industrialisation.
4. The need to stress the indivisibility of Africa in all partnerships and international fora, and encourage pooled sovereignty around key integration issues and common African positions, in areas where Africa benefits from block negotiations, such as (i) Trade; (ii) Climate change, the Green economy and collective food security; and (iv) the global Post 2015- and sustainable development agenda; and empower the AU Commission to lead and coordinate such negotiations with Member states.
5. Building financial independence and sustainability of key continental bodies such as the AU Commission by adopting strategies for self-financing of both operational and programme activities. In this context, the upcoming meeting of Finance and Economy Ministers to be held in March 2014 in Abuja, is requested to take into account the perspectives of this retreat, in particular consideration of the proposal from the Retreat for a levy of up to 0,5% on national budgets, towards financing the AU institutions and programmes.
6. Reviving and strengthening key Pan Africanist civil society movements, particularly the women and youth movements.
7. Tasking the Commission with the development of an action plan, focusing on the ‘key strategic initiatives for 2014’, that will give effect to the outcomes of the retreat, and to engaging all AU Organs, RECs and other relevant stakeholders on the outcomes.