African leaders to hold summit to resolve differences

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The African Union (AU) is set to convene an extraordinary session of heads of state and government ahead of a January meeting, a diplomatic source said Monday.

The meeting is expected to discuss the AU reform agenda put forth by Rwandan President Paul Kagami.

The ambassadors met Monday to set the agenda for the meeting on Nov. 17.

“The extraordinary meeting was deemed necessary to achieve consensus on the reform agenda and crystalize the reform issues, which is the main discussion point of the regular summit in January next year,” an African diplomat told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

Key AU reform agenda includes restructuring of the African Union Commission with a downsizing of its employee portfolio, financial independence, strengthening of a sanctions regime against nations for non-compliance of the AU decisions and increasing the participation of youth (35 percent) and women (50 percent) in African Union Commission payroll.

It also proposes only one summit a year cutting the number of regular sessions of the leaders by half.