African union

|Economic, Social, and Cultural Council | | | | |
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The Peace and Security Committee of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council deals with thefollowing issues:

▪ Conflict anticipation, prevention, management and resolution.
▪ Post conflict reconstruction and peace building.
▪ Prevention and combating of terrorism.
▪ Use of child soldiers.
▪ Drug trafficking.
▪ Illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
▪ Security reforms.
The Chairperson of the Committee is Muhammed Algalil.

The African Union'sEconomic, Social and Cultural Council's Political Affairs Committee concern themselves with:

▪ Human rights
▪ Rule of law
▪ Democratic constitutional rule
▪ Good governance
▪ Power sharing
▪ Electoral institutions
▪ Humanitarian affairs and assistance
The Chairpersomn of the Committee is Landing Badji.

The Social Affairs and Health Committee of the Economic, Social and CulturalCouncil for the African Union is responsible for:

▪ Health
▪ Children
▪ Drug control
▪ Population
▪ Migration
▪ Labor and employment
▪ Family
▪ Aging
▪ The physically challenged
▪ Sports
▪ Youth and protection
▪ Social integration
The Chairperson of the Committee is Helder Francisco Malauene

The Trade and Industry Committee of the African Union's Economic, Social andCultural Council deals with the following:

▪ Trade.
▪ Industry.
▪ Handcrafts.
▪ Customs and immigration matters.
The Chairperson of the Committee is Hassan Sumonu

The Economic Affairs Committee of the ECOSOCC deals with financial matters within Africa, like:

▪ Economic integration.
▪ Monetary and financial affairs.
▪ Private sector development, including the informal sector andresource mobilization.
The Chairperson of the Committee is Moses Tito Kachima

Role of Regional Economic Communities
One of the key debates in relation to the achievement of greater continental integration is the relative priority that should be given to integration of the continent as a unit in itself or to integration of the sub-regions. The 1980 Lagos Plan of Action for the Development ofAfrica and the 1991 treaty to establish the African Economic Community (also referred to as the Abuja Treaty), proposed the creation of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as the basis for African integration, with a timetable for regional and then continental integration to follow.[14]

Currently, there are eight RECs recognised by the AU, each established under a separate regional treaty.They are:

▪ the Arab Maghreb Union(UMA)
▪ the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
▪ the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
▪ the East African Community (EAC)
▪ the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
▪ the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
▪ the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
▪ the Southern AfricaDevelopment Community (SADC)
The membership of many of the communities overlaps, and their rationalisation has been under discussion for several years – and formed the theme of the 2006 Banjul summit. At the July 2007 Accra summit the Assembly finally decided to adopt a Protocol on Relations between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities.[15] This protocol is intended to facilitatethe harmonisation of policies and ensure compliance with the Abuja Treaty and Lagos Plan of Action time frames.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the African Union
The combined states of the African Union constitute the world's 17th largest economy with a nominal GDP of $500 billion, ranking after the Netherlands. By measuring GDP by PPP, the African Union's economy totals...