The African Union (AU)
The African Union (AU) is a body of 55 member states that make up the
countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as
a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which ran from
1963 to1999. The decision to re-launch Africa’s pan-African organisation
was the outcome of a consensus by African leaders that in order to
realise Africa’s potential, there was a need to re-focus attention from the
fight for decolonisation and ridding the continent of apartheid hitherto
pursued under the OAU, towards increased cooperation and integration
of African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development.
The AU is guided by its vision of An integrated, prosperous and peaceful
Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in
the global arena [1].
To realise this vision, the Africa Union developed and adopted a
50-year strategic plan called Agenda 2063 [2]. Agenda 2063 is the
continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for
inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation
of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress
and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African
Renaissance.
The AU has been steadfast in proposing more enabling and sciencebased approaches to the challenges of the continent. Its report on
gene drives clearly embraces the technology as a realistic option for
effective disease control. A constructive development along this path
was witnessed at the 29th Ordinary Session of Heads of State and
Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, where pursuant to
Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.649 (XXIX), the session embraced the gene
drive technology as a realistic option for malaria control. The session,
in its decision, requested the African Union Commission (AUC), West
African Health Organization (WAHO) and African Union Development
Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) to
collectively support the initiative [3].