Overview 2015 - Oxfam AU Office

1Raising Citizens’ Voices & Enlarging the Space

OXFAM International Liaison Office to the African Union

OVERVIEW 2015/16

Raising Citizens’ Voices & Enlarging the Space

OI-AU Annual Review 2015/162

Oxfam is an international confederation of 20 organisations working together with partners and local communities in more than 90 countries.

One person in three in the world lives in poverty. Oxfam is determined to change that world by mobilising the power of people against poverty.

Around the globe, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them.

In all we do, Oxfam works with partner organisations and alongside vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty.

This is the Annual Review of 2015/16 activities of the Oxfam International Liaison Office to the African Union (OI-AU) formally established through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the African Union and a Host Agreement with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE).


Present in Addis Ababa since 2006 to engage with the African Union and enable citizens’ participation, Oxfam International formally set up a Liaison Office to the African Union in recognition of the fact that the African Union is a positive force for realising social, economic, political and cultural rights of Africans. At the centre of this, is the belief that the primary agency for change on the continent lies with African citizens and African organisations.

Our Liaison Office to the AU carries out four main programmes:

• Active Citizenship and Capacity Development• Peace, Security and Humanitarian Affairs• Economic Justice and Extractive Industries

• Africa-China Dialogue Platform (ACDP)

Under the Active Citizenship and Capacity Development Programme, our office supports civil society organisations and ordinary African citizens to engage with the African Union and be part of the policy debates

and decisions that affect their lives. This role is in line with the AU’s vision of a people-driven organisation as well as to build an itegrated, prosperous Africa - an Africa driven and managed by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. Our team supports civil society’s capacity to understand

Who We Are


the African Union and effectively engage with it, through our policy analysis, financial and logistic support. We work closely with African civil society organisations who wish to influence the AU’s decision-making process by participating in the various AU policy organs’ meetings. We also organise trainings aimed at increasing the advocacy, media and communications capacity of our civil society partners.

On Peace, Security and Humanitarian Affairs our office engages directly with the African Union’s peace and security and humanitarian organs in delivering policy and advocacy, research and information that stems from Oxfam’s operational presence in 35 African countries (focus countries include Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Western Sahara). In 2015, we launched Oxfam’s Africa Rights-in-Crisis campaign to focus on how arms control will better support the rights of African citizens affected by conflict.

On Economic Justice and Extractive Industries we are expanding our advocacy, campaigns and research on extractive industries and transparency in the governance of Africa’s

natural resources. The aim of this programme is to make Africa’s minerals and natural resources work for the benefit of African citizens. This work is built on Oxfam’s 15 years of experience of working on extractive industries in a number of African countries and also with international mining companies.

Africa-China Dialogue Platform:The Programme aims to encourage and facilitate a constructive engagement and dialogue of citizens, policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders on the growing partnership between Africa and China. We strive to generate knowledge in order to influence policies and practices that relate to the Africa-China partnership, starting with the agriculture sector, climate change, sustainable development goals, and peace and security. In this regard, specific streams of work will be developed including policy research, knowledge generation, management and dissemination.

Our mandate includes managing Oxfam’s relationship with the African Union, which includes ensuring greater cooperation


Our Theory of Change:“Change happens when African citizens are informed, empowered and enabled to influence policies, practices and are able to use mechanisms to hold their leaders accountable”

with the AU under the framework of our existing Memorandum of Understanding. One of our missions is to support Oxfam programmes wishing to interact with the African Union on issues such as Economic Justice (agriculture, land, climate change), Essential Services (inequality, tax reform, financing for development), and Gender Equality as well as Africa-China Partnership.

Active Citizenship & Capacity

Development

Africa-China Dialogue

Platform (ACDP)

Economic Justice & Extractive Industries

Peace, Security & Humanitarian

Affairs


I am pleased to present you our 2015/2016 Annual Review: a summary of the key outcomes and impacts of our work from January 2015 to March 2016.

This year, our team worked closely with over 100 national and regional NGOs and coalitions to

engage with and contribute to various decision-making processes of the African Union. Our partners and staff participated in more than 20 gatherings of AU policy organs, and met with AU Permanent Representatives and officials of the African Union Commission and other organs. Over 10,000 African citizens regularly received our “AU Weekly” bulletin and other daily alerts on policy issues and activities of the African Union Commission.

In collaboration with the AU’s Directorate of Information and Communication and other partners, we trained over 100 citizens, NGO leaders and media practitioners from the 5 geographical regions of Africa on Understanding and engaging the African Union.

How change happened in 2015/16 Message from the Resident Representative

7Message from the Resident Reprsentative

Throughout the year, we supported the work of the peace and security organs of the AU, linking policy makers with citizens and affected populations from the 35 African countries where Oxfam operates. Highlights included our work on Central African Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. We worked with the Peace and Security Council to ensure that community voices were heard. Our experts were invited to serve as resource persons at several PSC sessions.

We were part of the 3rd UN Conference on Financing for Development in July advocating for a truly visionary financing framework to both bolster inclusive growth and tackle poverty across the developing world.

Looking ahead, we will remain focused on addressing inequality and the injustice of poverty in communities affected by crises, food shortages, lack of educational opportunities, gender inequality, and lack of accessible health care. Our collective power to tackle these issues is remarkable. We are also committed to ensuring that civic space is open and available for citizens and affected populations to make their voices heard.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Oxfam colleagues in Addis Ababa and around the

world and our volunteers who contributed to these achievements.

I also thank the African Union leadership and departments of the African Union Commission, embassies, and civil society partner organisations for their collaboration and support.

Finally, I would like to thank our host, the Government of Ethiopia and in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration for their consistent support.

Désiré Assogbavi Resident Representative & Head of Office


ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENTAt Oxfam we believe that effective collaboration on all levels between civil society actors and political actors is pertinent to the realisation of the Africa we want. The African Union is a system made up of 54 African States, with a constitution (its Constitutive Act), executive, legislative, judicial, advisory, financial and decentralised bodies. Simplifying this complexity while highlighting the spaces for constructive civic action is key to effective engagement between the AU and civil society.

In January 2015 we held our annual training for 50 civil society leaders and media representatives jointly with the AU’s Directorate of Information and Communication. The training covered the decision-making processes of the AU as well as civic space within the continental body. We collaborated in

the organisation of eight side events on a range of topical issues such as peace and security, governance, illicit financial flows and the 2015 climate change negotiation processes.

With the Institute for International Education, we jointly organised a training workshop on women, peace and security in the context of the

9Active Citizenship and Capacity Development

AU Agenda 2063, which was attended by 15 female leaders from three East African countries.

In March 2015, we hosted the launch of a new Oxfam knowledge hub on governance, citizenship, taxation, and national budget programming. This hub brought together a rich set of resources based on Oxfam’s global experience which we utilised in our work with the African Union and other multilateral institutions on policies relating

to these key issues.

We also hosted 14 graduate and undergraduate students from Seton Hall University, New Jersey, USA. The students were part of a biennial Ethiopian study tour to learn more about the African Union and other Addis Ababa-based institutions engaged in international diplomacy. Oxfam and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) staff provided an overview of their work with the African Union, as well as

civil society’s role in conflict-management and resolution.

As a continental body, the African Union is an organisation of and for the African people. Encouraging African citizens to

Oxfam launched a knowledge hub on governance, citizenship, tax, and national budget programming.


lobby their countries to abide by the instruments and standards adopted by the African Union is the goal of the My African Union campaign which was launched in March 2015 with the State of the Union Coalition. Over 70 participants from Addis Ababa-based AU embassies and other actors came to support the campaign.

While conflicts on the continent have decreased in the last decade, many African states are in transition. In partnership with the South Africa-based Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), Oxfam brought together AU ambassadors, AUC agencies, and experts to discuss the challenges of advancing national programmes of post-conflict justice and reconciliation.

In November 2015, Oxfam went back to school. We were invited to meet with Addis Ababa University students who were curious about our programmes. It was a unique opportunity to showcase the activities of Oxfam to the university community.

The AU declared 2016 as the African Year of Human Rights, with a particular focus on the Rights of Women. In January 2016, over 100 CSOs and CSO leaders joined us at the Citizens Continental Conference on Human Rights in Africa- as a side-event of the AU summit-to coordinate advocacy strategies aiming at strengthening the rights of citizens in Africa and to expand civic space.

In the same month Oxfam also hosted an inter-

Oxfam co-hosted with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) a seminar on transitional justice and reconcilaition.

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agency press conference at the headquarters of the African Union during which 5 NGO representatives spoke to various media houses on

Oxfam’s Capacity Development Coordinator, Selam Abraha, explains Oxfam’s work to Addis Ababa University students

Active Citizenship and Capacity Development

critical issues of the Summit agenda and proposed policy recomendations.


PEACE, SECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

supportive of early ratification by their legislative assemblies.

With Save the Children and the ICRC, Oxfam hosted African Ministers of Health at an event titled: Universal Health Care: Strengthening healthcare systems in the wake of the Ebola crisis. This event took place on the margins of the African Health Ministers annual meeting in

In May 2015, we launched Oxfam’s new Arms Control Campaign across Africa. Twenty-two African states, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and civil society organisations were briefed on the status of the global UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT); a CSO advocacy consultation followed. Governments of Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Seychelles, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia were very

13Peace, Security and Humanitarian Affairs

engage with the Great Lakes Region actors.

During the January 2015 AU Summit, we co- hosted (with our partner Réseau pour la Réforme du Secteur de Sécurité et de Justice (RRSSJ)) a spirited dialogue between the (UNSGS) Ambassador Djinnit and over 40 community representatives from Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.

At the January 2016 Summit more than 60 delegates and stakeholders participated in Oxfam’s consultative dialogue between the (UNSGS) Ambassador Djinnit and civil society organizations as well as other stakeholders working in the Region. Oxfam hosts this annual direct interface that focuses on how the UN Special Envoy and civil society in the Great Lakes Region can support to ensure the full implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework (PSCF) for the DRC and the region.

We invited Oxfam’s South Sudan team for policy meetings with Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) Chief Negotiator Ambassador Seyoun Mesfin, and the AU missions of China, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States ahead of the AU PSC review of the South Sudan conflict. Oxfam joined a consultative workshop organised by the Peace and Security Department of the African

April 2016. The AUC Commissioner for Social Affairs and Oxfam Representative to the AU opened the event in the presence of over 170 participants.Our message stressed the importance for all countries to build resilient health systems, learning from the Ebola crisis. We noted that user fees for health care punish the poorest, and urged countries to prioritise their removal.

In January 2015 and 2016 Oxfam invited the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region (UNSGS) Ambassador Said Djinnit to

UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region Ambassador Djinnit (left) and Oxfam South Africa Executive Director Sipho Mthathi (right)


Union on CSOs’ partnership with the Continental Early Warning Systems (CEWS). The event brought together 30 African NGOs and networks, including SADC-CNGO and WANEP, to learn more about the

mandate, structures, and operations of the CEWS, and to discuss how CSOs can engage in alerting the AU about potential conflicts.

Oxfam was invited to speak during the AU Peace and Security Council’s November 2015 Special Session on Women, Peace and Security. Oxfam’s report on Women, Peace & Security; Keeping the Promise was distributed and our recomendations incorporated in the final communiqué documenting the session.

The AU Partners Group (AUPG) is a group of donors who support the African Union on peace and security-related matters. Oxfam was invited to give a presentation on the food security situation in South Sudan.

Oxfam’s Pan-Africa RiC Camaign Manager, Omayma Gutbi, addressing the AU Peace and Security Council

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In June 2015, Oxfam was invited to speak at the AU Peace and Security Council’s meeting on the Arms Trade Treaty. Mr. Mohamed Coulibaly, Oxfam’s Country Director in Mali, delivered a message on the regional perspective. He also conducted several meetings with PSC member states.

In August 2015, ahead of the first Conference of States Parties (CSP) on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) we invited member states to discuss ATT ratifications, implementation processes, and funding for governments to integrate the ATT. The meeting was addressed by the Ambassador of Mexico to Ethiopia Mr. Miranda Ortiz who highlighted the importance of the Cancun CSP.

In September 2015, Oxfam was invited to take part

in a technical workshop organised by the African Union Commission Peace Operations Division to review and discuss updates to the Guidelines on the Role of the African Standby Force (ASF) in Humanitarian Action and Natural Disaster Support operations (HANDs).

In January 2016, the Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission of the Peace Agreement on South Sudan (JMEC) and Former President of Botswana Festus Mogae briefed panelists of Oxfam and Crisis Action’s high-level seminar on South Sudan that attracted more than 30 representatives of CSOs, embassies based in Addis Ababa, UN Agencies and international organizations (including IGAD).

Peace, Security and Humanitarian Affairs

The Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission of the Peace Agreement on South Sudan (JMEC) and Former President of Botswana Festus Mogae (centre) with participants


Economic Justice and Extractive Industries We collaborated with the AUC’s Directorate of Trade and Industries, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) African Minerals Development Centre on a roundtable on the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision.

How to raise US$ 1.5 trillion? Our impact on the July UN Third Financing for Development (FFD3) conference in Addis Ababa was preceded by

a series of political meetings to influence the international consensus on how to raise funds to finance the new post-2015 goals. In May 2015, Oxfam and the African Union co-hosted an event on the theme Towards the Third Financing for Development Conference - How to Finance Africa’s Development? to establish African support for new sources of financing, including curbing illicit financial flows out of Africa, and challenging the on-going Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) process for its exclusion of developing countries. We also promoted the need for African support for a Ministerial-level emergency tax roundtable on the sidelines of the FFD3 conference. The debate gathered over 140 participants from the diplomatic community, African Union Commission, UN agencies, private sector, and CSOs. Speakers included the Ambassador of Benin (Chair of the

17Econmoic Justice and Extractive Industries

least developed countries (LDCs) in the FFD negotiations), and Charles Abugre, former Director of the UN Millennium Campaign and currently Commissioner of the Ghana National Development Planning Commission.

Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima led our team in Addis Ababa for the UN Third Financing for Development Conference in July 2015. We were resolute in our call for a fair deal for Africa and its citizens.

Ms. Byanyima conducted more than a dozen media interviews where Oxfam called for an intergovernmental tax body and a comprehensive blueprint for funding the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. She joined Oxfam’s Honorary Adviser, Professor Joseph Stiglitz at a well-attended side event on tax. Our costumed Tax Body Guy provided daily reminders to conference delegates. Significant media coverage included AFP, AP, Bloomberg, BBC, Al Jazeera’s Newshour, La Monde, and the Guardian.

Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima (right) led our team in Addis Ababa for the July UN Third Financing for Development Conference


Campaigning for Climate Justice, Oxfam invited parliamentarians, governments, faith leaders, and AU embassies in Addis Ababa to discuss the need for billions in climate change adaptation financing to be included in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) treaty negotiations in December 2015. Over 60 diplomats representing African countries, the European Union Delegation to the AU, UN agencies, parliamentarians, the Government of Ethiopia, the Mission of the Holy See, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, NGOs, media and academia contributed to insightful discussion.

In March 2015, we assisted our partner organisation the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre (HOAREC) to deliver the ‘Road

to Paris’ Regional Conference in Addis Ababa. The conference was also supported by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

Oxfam was invited to take part in the joint AU-UNECA consultation with African Finance Experts and Ministers in March 2016. We provided support to our partners Tax Justice Network and the African Regional Organisation of International Trade Union Confederation to also engage with this Regional Consultation in Addis Ababa. On the sidelines we held advocacy meetings on the need for a global tax body, with reprsentatives of the African Union Commission and the Embassy of Senegal.

Oxfam assisted in the planning of the June AU Summit‘s three-day high-level event on gender

and livelihoods. We supported women farmers from Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa who spoke passionately to gender and d e v e l o p m e n t ministers and AU officials on how to increase women’s financial inclusion in agribusiness.

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While at the June 2015 AU Summit in Johannesburg, Oxfam launched a Pan-African Women Food Climate campaign. A new website (womenfoodclimate.org) and petition were launched, calling on African leaders to allocate more funding to help African citizens adapt to climate change. By the end of the launch week we had reached over 2.2 million supporters across Africa.

Oxfam, faith groups, and environmental organisations held a march for climate justice through the streets of Nairobi in November 2015.

Led by our Extractive Industries Policy Adviser Vanessa Inko-Dokubo, Oxfam’s global and regional teams of 14 representatives influenced a High-Level Policy Roundtable on the Development of an African Mineral Governance Framework (AMGF).” Over 120 participants– drawn from the Ministries of Minerals and Natural Resources of all AU member states, RECs, UNDP, academia, and over 70 CSOs attended the event co-hosted by the AU, UNECA and OXFAM.

Invited as the lead speaker by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union at its Special Session on Conflicts and Natural Resources in Africa, Désiré Assogbavi our Resident Representative delivered a lecture before more than 50 Ambassadors and Addis Ababa based

donor community and UN agencies at the African Union. The presentation covered Oxfam key policy positions on extractive industries including transparency, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), community engagement, accountability, human rights, protection of environment and the oversight/monitoring role of CSOs. In addition, he stressed the importance of moving from extractive-based to more diversified economies and a corruption free governance of natural resources in Africa.

Econmoic Justice and Extractive Industries


The programme had a successful launch and a day-long seminar in March 2016 on Africa-China partnership focusing on agriculture cooperation.

Over 100 participants including ambassadors, representatives of governments, the African Union, UN and other international organisations, civil society and the media participated in the launch event following a day-long seminar on the Africa-China growing partnership. The Chinese Ambassador to the African Union, an Ethiopian Minister and an Ambassador representing the African Union were among the speakers.

To learn more about our programme please contact us on: [email protected]

Africa-China Dialogue Platform

21Africa-China Dialogue Platform

Objectives of the Programme

The objective of the programme is to encourage and facilitate a permanent constructive engagement and dialogue of citizens, policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders on the growing partnership between Africa and China. We expect to generate knowledge in order to influence policies and practices that relate to the Africa–China partnership, starting with agricultural sector. In this regard, we will be developing specific streams of work including policy research, knowledge generation, management and dissemination.

Focus Areas of the Programme

The short term focus area will be agriculture investment and related issues.

Planned Activities of the Programme i. Policy based research, knowledge generation,

and documentation.ii. Monthly newsletter updating the progress on

selected theme of the programme, which will be shared among stakeholders.

iii. Quarterly policy dialogue/roundtable to promote informed debate and dialogue by

Ambassador Kuang Weilin, Head of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the AU (centre); Chan May Ling, International Programme Director, Oxfam Hong Kong (right); Oxfam Resident Representative, Désiré Assogbavi (left)


leading practitioners, scholars and civil society actors on the various dimensions of Africa-China relationship. And subsequent quarterly policy briefing/report of the roundtable.

iv. Special events such as annual/biennial Africa-China workshop on topical issues. The forum will bring together regional, sub-regional, national stakeholders both from Africa and China side.

v. Facilitation of exchange of ideas and knowledge among different stakeholders; showcasing best practices; understanding what works and what doesn’t work; assessing the progress the continent is making on Africa-China relationship.

vi. Media engagement, policy advocacy, information sharing, networking and peer learning among key Africa-China partnership stakeholders.

Participants at the launch of our Africa-China Dialogue Platform in March 2016

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Central to all we do and envision is a team of passionate and dedicated individuals of diverse backgrounds. During the period under review, we continued to attract high-calibre professionals.

Our People


Désiré Assogbavi- TogoResident Representative & Head of Office

[email protected]

Brenda Mofya - ZambiaPolicy Advisor – Peace and Security/Governance

[email protected]

Omayma Gutbi - SudanPan Africa Rights in Crisis Campaign Manager

[email protected]

Vanessa Inko-Dokubo, PhD - NigeriaPolicy Advisor, Extractive Industries

[email protected]

Hanna Tesfaye- EthiopiaOffice Administrator & PA to the Head of Office

[email protected]

Selam Abraha - EthiopiaCapacity Development Coordinator

[email protected]

In Addis Ababa, our current staff includes:

25Our People

Josef Molla - EthiopiaFinance & Admin Officer

[email protected]

Cherinet Amsalu - EthiopiaIT and Logistics Officer

[email protected]

Daisy Chebet - Kenya Pan Africa Associate, Strategic Engagement

[email protected]

Tatenda Malan - ZambiaPan Africa Associate, Rights in Crisis

[email protected]

Abaynesh Tekle - EthiopiaOffice Assistant

Gedion Jalata - Ethiopia Programme Manager,

Africa-China Dialogue Platform [email protected]

Helen Yosef - Ethiopia Policy and Advocacy Officer,

Africa-China Dialogue Platform [email protected]


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Present in Addis Ababa since 2006 to engage with the African Union and enable citizens’ participation, Oxfam International formally set up a Liaison Office to the African Union in recognition of the fact that the African Union is a positive force for realising social, economic, political and cultural rights of Africans. At the centre of this, is the belief that the primary agency for change on the continent lies with African citizens and African organisations.

Our Liaison Office to the AU has been carrying out four main programmes and a number of other engagements:

(1) Active Citizenship and Capacity Development

(2) Peace, Security and Humanitarian Affairs

(3) Economic Justice and Extractive Industries, and

(4) Africa-China Dialogue Platform

Oxfam International Liaison Office to the African UnionTK Building #2, Bole Airport Area, Suite 602, Addis-Ababa, EthiopiaTel.: +251 11661 1601 / Fax: +251 11 661 2795

Overview 2015 - Oxfam AU Office

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