Section: Unit 3: Inception, creation and functioning of African Union | IR3112: African Union and Issues in African Security and Development | University of Rwanda

Section outline

This unit explains the origins and evolution of the OAU and its transformation into the current AU, its organs, institutions and functioning. Some AU's flagship projects and initiatives and their impact on the continent are also discussed.

Intended unit learning outcomes

At the end of this unit you will be able to:

Explain the inception, creation and evolution of African Union

Describe the functioning of African Union and its organs, and

Analyse the significance of AU’s major programmes and initiatives

The learning material for this unit include a power point presentation, a course reader, further reading material, and student activities. There are student activities done online (e-tivities) for each of the above intended Learning outcomes and a general assessment test in form of a quiz is given at the end of the unit.

Watch and listen to this video:
- Select activity [slides] African union
  
  [slides] African union File PDF
  
  In this Presentation:
  
  Pan-African Origins of the AU
  
  OAU
  
  Origins and evolution
  
  Institutions
  
  Its renewed vision since 2000 with the creation of
  
  AU
  
  AEC African Economic Community
  
  PAP Pan African Parliament
  
  AfCFTA/ZLECAf
  
  Some other AU pan-African initiatives
  
  NEPAD/APRM
  
  African Union Passport
  
  Agenda 2063
  
  973.9 KB
- Select activity African Union organs
  
  African Union organs URL
  
  You may find and read more about AU organs on this Website
- Select activity E-tivity 3.1. Assignment on Unit Three
  
  E-tivity 3.1. Assignment on Unit Three
  
  E-tivity 3.1. Assignment:
  
  Aim: Demonstrate understanding of inception, creation and evolution of African Union
  
  Due date: 9th November, 2020
  
  After reading through indicated resources, write a 2 page essay that answers one of the following questions of your choice:
  
  Describe the pan-Africanist origin of OAU/AU.
  
  Explain the different visions by the Casablanca and Monrovia groups in the history of OAU formation.
  
  What is the renewed vision of AU since 2000 and how does it differ from OAU’s?
  
  How does AU differ from its predecessor in terms of their aims and objectives?
- Select activity e-tivity 3.2 Discussion forum
  
  e-tivity 3.2 Discussion forum
  
  Aim:
  
  This activity is intended to provide a forum for interaction and discussion on some important topics in this unit. It is also aimed at making you familiar with the functioning of the African Union and its organs.
  
  Instructions:
  
  Choose one of the following questions and post your answer in the forum. You will have an opportunity to comment on you classmates' posts and ask questions that the facilitator will answer. Participation in this discussion forum will be marked out of 10 according to the relevance and frequency of your submissions.
  
  Deadline: This activity must be done before 11th November, 2020 at 23h59
  
  Questions:
  
  How does the African Union make decisions?
  
  What is the purpose of African Union?
  
  What are the challenges facing the African Union?
  
  Who is the founder of African Union?
  
  What are the aims and objectives of the African Union?
  
  Is the African Union successful?
- Select activity E-tivity 3.3 Quiz for unit Three
  
  E-tivity 3.3 Quiz for unit Three
  
  Aim: This assessment aims to test your knowledge of the African Union evaluate your and your analytical capabilities over the issues pertaining to the African Union as a regional inter-governmental organization.
  
  Instructions:
  
  This assessment contains 20 questions to be answered in 20 minutes.
  
  It is taken online by simple clicks.
  
  You need to have done e-tivities 3.1, and 3.2 as well as all the e-tivities in unit 1&2 before taking this assessment.
  
  You are allowed two attempts but beware that the average of you scores on those attempts will be considered.
  
  Good Luck