The Rocky Road to Al-Maghreb Continues...
African Union- The second session commenced with a serious atmosphere and a number of countries bringing up different matters regarding the current draft resolution to the floor.
This draft resolution was undoubtedly a progressive step forward as it was the most comprehensive one to date and this fact was recognised by multiple delegations in the committee.
However there were a few considerations and concerns regarding certain clauses which were highlighted by the delegates.
The delegations of Tanzania and Niger were concerned with a clause that invited the use of natural resources from African countries. They pointed out that developing African nations would especially need these resources for their own growing economies.
In terms of funding, the draft resolution called for 1 to 2% of each country’s GDP to be donated to the cause. However Mali strongly felt that this was much too large to ask each country and that having such a massive budget would be difficult to handle. Similarly, Ethiopia questioned the methods by which the money would be distributed and cited varying country sizes to be an issue when it came to organising funding for border checks and control.
Djibouti was very open to the idea of bringing BRICS on board to provide funding and to provide assistance to the African Union.
These were a few of the many amendments that faced delegates this morning in the African Union and as the delegate of Tunisia aptly put, “We have come a long way, but there are still questions on what the African Union has done and has to still do to accomplish our goals.”
