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Mwencha calls for AU, Diaspora partnership

Mwencha calls for AU, Diaspora partnership
By Kabanda Chulu
Monday August 25, 2008 [04:00]

AFRICAN Union (AU) Commission deputy chairperson Erastus Mwencha has said the African Diaspora must become full partners in the development of the continent. During a signing ceremony with the World Bank for the provision of a US$ 487,000 grant to strengthen the African Diaspora of the AU in Washington DC on Friday, Mwencha stated that the AU had embarked on necessary steps to harness the expertise and resources of African Diaspora as the ‘sixth region’ of Africa.

“The signing of this grant is a concrete testimony of the World Bank’s desire to further strengthen and consolidate institutional relationship with the African Union Commission and this grant will enable the AU to carry out one of its core functions of developing and maintaining productive relationships with the African Diaspora in both North and South America and the Caribbean region,” stated Mwencha.

“Actually, it is through these agreements that the AU recognises that the African Diaspora must become full partners for the development of the continent.”

And World Bank Africa region vice-president Obiageli Ezekwesili stated that the African Diaspora constitute a unique and powerful resource group critical to resolving the capacity challenges facing the continent.

“Leveraging their huge and diverse talents and effectively connecting them to the continent’s development calls for strong commitment on the part of African governments, hence a strong and capable AU Commission can catalyse this commitment and signal that the Diaspora is indeed Africa’s sixth region,” Ezekwesili stated.

The Institutional Development Fund is part of the World Bank’s support in enhancing the capacity of the AU Mission to the United Sates in Washington DC.

The programme would help strengthen knowledge sharing and coordination among the AU mission, the Diaspora and development partners in the Americas and it would also help develop a reliable database of the African Diaspora networks and individuals.

Labels: AU, DEVELOPMENT, DIASPORA

posted by MrK @ 3:51 AM