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AU, World Bank sign MoU

AU, World Bank sign MoU
By Kabanda Chulu
Tuesday October 07, 2008 [04:00]

THE African Union (AU) and the World Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding on working together to support Africa’s development.

The agreement is intended to deepen cooperation in fostering Africa’s reintegration, sustainable development and the fight against poverty as well as strengthening collaboration in the areas of regional integration, governance, post-conflict countries, relations with the Diaspora, and HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases.

Speaking on Friday, World Bank president Robert Zoellick stated that the bank wanted to complement the AU’s work and in keeping its vision.

He said the World Bank was ready to help in building the legitimacy of the African Union in various countries by working with the AU to promote and support real progress.

The agreement would also provide an overall framework for collaboration over an initial five-year period in each of these areas, which are priorities for both the World Bank and the Africa Union.

And chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping stated that the AU was making tremendous efforts to bring peace and democratisation to the continent.

“Recently, we launched a free trade zone in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) which has a 170 million population, but in development work generally, the AU continues to hold seminars without follow-up and needs to move from rhetoric to action,” Ping stated.

The agreement provides that specific arrangements for individual activities in each substantive area will be set out in jointly-formulated work plans. Collaboration is intended to be results-focused, with the World Bank’s technical expertise complementing the African Union’s political leadership.

The effectiveness of the collaboration will be periodically assessed by the two institutions.

It also commits the two organisations to share information on matters of mutual interest, including through annual consultations between senior management of the AU and the World Bank.

Last July, the AU Commission and the World Bank signed an agreement under which the Bank provided US $ 487,000 in grant funding for strengthening the African Diaspora Programme of the AU.

Labels: AU, MoU, World Bank

posted by MrK @ 4:09 AM