By Zainab Joaque
The Chairman of the African Union Committee of Ten Nations, President Ernest Bai Koroma, will host, starting today, 3 days of meetings of the member nations’ foreign ministers and ambassadors to the AU and the UN. The committee was set up to negotiate Africa’s bid for a UN permanent member status and comprises Algeria, Libya, Senegal, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Zambia and Sierra Leone. The meetings follow a decision reached at the recent ordinary session of AU Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa. The meetings will be followed by a Summit of the Committee of Ten Heads of State later in the year to assess progress in the ongoing intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the UN Security Council and to reach out at the highest political level to garner the requisite political will in support of an African common position. The meeting aims to create a space for discussions among the member states and to reflect on how much more needs to be done to carry forward the common African position. The discussions will seek to understand why some member states of the African Group have sought alliances with another interest group, address the impact such an action may have on the cohesiveness and unity of the Africa Group and the extent to which the issue of dual alliances and allegiances might affect the achievement of the African common position. At the end of the meeting, they are expecting to identify key challenges and opportunities for advancing the African common position in light of the multiplicity of interests, enhance the unit and cohesiveness among the African Group with a view to forging a much stronger front “in securing the best outcome for Africa, seek to clearly identify convergences and nuances for effective coalition building and enhance synergy” among the foreign their permanent representatives at the AU and UN.
