Banjul-based civil society organization, African Union Watch (AU Watch) Executive Director Dr. Feyi Ogunda said on Saturday that unity and prosperity envisioned by Agenda 2063 remained threatened by rampant corruption, conflicts, and human rights violations.
“It is vital to use the day to reflect and ask ourselves if this is the type of Africa we want to bequeath to our children – an Africa where, according to UNESCO, nearly 93 million of its youngest citizens are not in school, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“An Africa where women and girls account for 62 percent (179 000) of all global deaths from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth,” he said in a statement received by The Voice to mark Africa Day.
He added: “Today should be a time for deep reflection for our political and policy chiefs and indeed for all of us – how the continent should effectively learn from the lessons of the past, build on the progress now underway, and strategically exploit all economic, financial and social possibilities available in the short, medium and long term, so as to ensure positive socio-economic transformation within the next forty five years.”
He pointed out that AU Watch supported the AU Agenda 2063 and many regional initiatives led by the African Union that sought to promote people driven, and conflict sensitive development, in a combined effort to build the unity of Africans.
He prayed for the spirit of Ubuntu, togetherness, of being connected to all of us, resonate from the streets of Egypt to South Africa from Senegal to Djibouti.
“In the undying spirit (love, peace and forgiveness) of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, we call for a renewed strengthening of efforts and collaboration to stand in solidarity with one another against xenophobia, Afrophobia, racism, hate speech and criminal violence that seem to be consuming some places in the continent,” he said.
He congratulated the African Union for efforts to reduce tensions in South Sudan and other places, saying that the AU more than any other organisation in the world knew that conflicts bred where people suffered from poor governance, human rights violations, exclusion and poverty.
He applauded Africa’s vision to build by 2063, a peaceful and prosperous continent where democracy, human rights and the rule of law were entrenched and flourishing, starting with the aim to silence all guns by 2020.