Organization of African Unity founded - May 25,1963

On this day in 1963, the Organization of African Unity was founded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi there, Welcome to this Day in History Class,
where we sift through the artifacts of history seven days
a week. Today it's May nineteen. The day was made

(00:25):
twenty five, nineteen sixty three. The Organization of African Unity
or o a U was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It was formed by thirty two countries with the goal
of promoting solidarity between African nations and ridding the continent
of colonialism. The o a U has its roots in

(00:47):
pan Africanism. Pan Africanism is a movement that grew to
prominence in the mid to late nineteenth century that emphasized
African unity and collaboration among people of African descent. African
leaders like Ghana's Quame and Cruma, Kenya's Julius Norere, guineas
Seco Torre, and Zambia's Kenneth Colunda promoted Pan Africanism. The

(01:13):
o a U was established to deal with continental issues
in post colonial Africa. There were three ideological blocks that
emerged on the continent in nineteen sixty and nineteen sixty one.
The Casablanca Group, the Brazzaville Group, and the Monrovia Group.
The Casa Blanca Group supported full continental integration and it

(01:36):
included Ghana, Molly, Guinea, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. The
Brassiville Group advocated for a gradual approach to unification, but
remained tied to French interests. Its members were mainly former
French colonies, including Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Senegal, Madagascar and

(01:59):
other countries. The Monrovia Group favored a gradual approach to
unification and a loose association of sovereign states. It included
Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Togo, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Somalia, among other nations.
The idea of a continental organization was based on the

(02:21):
desire for a federation of African States or a United
States of Africa. Pan African Congresses were convened and at
the fifth Pan African Congress in Manchester, England, in nineteen
forty five, there were calls for an inter colonial rule
in racial discrimination, for independence of the African continent, and

(02:42):
for economic advancement. In nineteen fifty eight, the First Congress
of Independent African States was convened in Acra, Ghana. It
brought together leaders of nationalist movements who advocated for African solidarity.
Five years later, in what has been called Africa's Unity Year,
representatives of thirty two African governments gathered in Addis Ababa

(03:06):
to sign a charter for the o a U. The
o AU became operational on September thirteenth, nineteen sixty three,
when its charter went into effect. The charter said in
part that the heads of African States and governments were
quote inspired by a common determination to promote understanding among

(03:27):
our people's and cooperation among our states in response to
the aspirations of our people's for brotherhood and solidarity and
a larger unity transcending ethnic and national differences. The charter
also said they were quote determined to safeguard and consolidate
the hard one independence, as well as the sovereignty and

(03:48):
territorial integrity of our states, and to fight against neo
colonialism in all its forms. Member states were made to
coordinate their policies in politics, diplomacy, economics, and other areas.
The charter also provided for the sovereign equality of all
member states, non interference in the internal affairs of states,

(04:11):
respect for their sovereignty, and territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement
of disputes, and the emancipation of dependent African territories. After
de colonization, the Cold War, and the end of apartheid
in South Africa, it became clear that the o AU
was not entirely effective in its mission to create a

(04:32):
prosperous and united Africa. Practically, a united Africa is hard
to implement, and the o AU had both failures and successes.
It made progress in de colonization and development of international law,
while it did not do so well at bringing peace
and stability to the continent or meeting the demands of globalization.

(04:56):
In ninet, heads of State and Government of the o
a YOU issued the Search Declaration to call for an
African Union that better addressed the social, economic and political
challenges that Africa faced. The o a U was dissolved
in two thousand and two. The African Union, which focuses
on Africa's development and socio economic integration, replaced it. Some

(05:21):
of the aims of the African Union are to promote
and protect human rights, to promote peace, security and stability
on the African continent, to promote sustainable development, and to
encourage the participation of the African diaspora in African affairs.
Every year, on May, Africans and people in the African

(05:41):
diaspora celebrate Africa Day, a holiday that commemorates the founding
of the O A U and African Unity. I'm Eve
Defco and hopefully you know a little more about history
today than you did yesterday. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook at t d i h C podcast Tune

(06:05):
in tomorrow for another Day in History. For more podcasts
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