PAP and PRC pledge enhanced synergies to achieve continental agenda

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) have concluded a successful two-day Joint Retreat, with both parties pledging to work towards a framework for effective institutional collaboration.

Members of the PAP and the PRC have agreed to explore ways to harmonize working methods and define areas of synergies between the two organs.

These synergies seek to enable the PAP to effectively promote and oversee the implementation of Agenda 2063 and its flagship projects at the continental and national levels.

Discussions during the two-day Retreat further revolved around the PAP’s collaboration with all AU stakeholders, including the relevant Special Technical Committees and other organs such as AUDA-NEPAD and APRM.

The Joint Retreat resulted in several key recommendations, which will be fine-tuned in January 2023 before the conclusions of this critical consultation are presented to the Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in February 2023.

The proposed recommendations covered various aspects including financial and administrative support to the PAP and the legal status of Members of Parliament. The Retreat also extensively engaged in the core business, institutional legal framework and deliverables of the PAP with a view to ensuring increased participation of African citizens and civil society, as well as the African diaspora in the affairs of the Union.

Additionally, the meeting envisaged stronger ties with the PRC to enable the Continental Parliament to be more visible and proactive in promoting ratification, domestication and implementation of AU treaties.

Furthermore, Parliamentarians and African Ambassadors to the AU gathered in Johannesburg tackled the issue of African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOM).

The engagements focused on the status accorded to African Parliamentarians in these missions, in line with the mandate of the continental Parliament to promote democracy and good governance.

In line with an Executive Council decision taken in February 2010, the PAP and the African Union Commission, through the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, participate in joint AUEOM. The decision provides for the PAP to contribute 40% of observers, as well as cooperation between staff from both organs in the organization of the missions.

Source: Media and Communication Unit, Pan-African Parliament