Panel Organiser: Joao Gomes Porto

Africa is currently experiencing a major transformation with regard to the norms and institutions governing multilateral relations on the Continent. This gradual shift has the potential to transform the way Africa addresses the intertwined challenges of development, peace and security. This transformation began on 9 September 1999, when African Heads of State and Government issued a Declaration in which they expressed their decision to transform the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), founded in 1963, into the African Union. On 10 July 2000, at the 36th summit of the OAU in Togo, Lomé, this Declaration was translated into the Constitutive Act of the African Union. This was not a mere change in name, but represented a fundamental change in terms of vision, objectives as well as responsibilities entrusted to the organisation.