Appendix 3: Call for evidence
In August 2018 the then Prime Minister said the UK was “seeking to work more closely with the more than 50 nations of Africa to deliver our shared security and prosperity, and through this strengthening a global system that is capable of delivering lasting benefits for all”. She emphasised the importance of inclusive growth, and said the Government would “put our development budget and expertise at the centre of our partnership”.
The African Union In 2015 the African Union (AU) outlined, in Agenda 2063, its strategy to achieve the Pan African Vision of “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena”. In February 2019, the UK and the AU signed a Joint Communiqué on the African Union-United Kingdom Partnership. This set out “a broad range of shared priorities in support of the African Union’s objectives for the Continent and a shared vision for a prosperous, secure and innovative future for Africa, tackling common challenges such as climate change, and making the most of opportunities such as increasing trade links and the dynamism of Africa’s youthful population”.
The shared priorities set out in the Communiqué are:
- Strengthening resilience across the continent through continued co-operation in support of the African Union’s peace-making and peacekeeping role, and enhanced policy engagement. Particular areas identified by the AU are: South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin and Libya.
- Driving prosperity by mobilising investment including the promotion of UK-Africa trade and investment, the African Continental Free Trade Area, investing in people, and building opportunities to deliver a skilled workforce through shared work on education, science and technology and skills development.
- Creating the conditions to allow full participation of women and disabled persons in our societies.
- Recognise the added value of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and ensure that migration and human mobility in Africa is well managed both to migrants themselves and to host/origin countries for socioeconomic development as per the AU Agenda 2063. Support initiatives aimed at preventing irregular migration including protection of victims of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
- Promote and protect an equitable and inclusive rules-based international system to ensure that countries and individuals have the freedom, security, justice and mechanisms to prosper, and includes co-operation on global issues such as climate change, human rights and serious organised crime. Supporting the AU’s desire to find African solutions for African problems, this includes UN-assessed contributions for AU-led Peace Support Operations authorised by the UN Security Council.
The call for evidence
- The Committee intends to focus on how the UK can best support the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the areas for co-operation set out in the 2019 AU-UK Joint Communique.
- The Committee is calling for written evidence on this topic. The Committee will use the written evidence received to further shape its inquiry.