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Speaker 1: The Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi there, Welcome to this Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: where we sift through the artifacts of history seven days

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Speaker 1: a week. Today it's May nineteen. The day was made

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Speaker 1: twenty five, nineteen sixty three. The Organization of African Unity

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Speaker 1: or o a U was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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Speaker 1: It was formed by thirty two countries with the goal

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Speaker 1: of promoting solidarity between African nations and ridding the continent

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Speaker 1: of colonialism. The o a U has its roots in

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Speaker 1: pan Africanism. Pan Africanism is a movement that grew to

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Speaker 1: prominence in the mid to late nineteenth century that emphasized

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Speaker 1: African unity and collaboration among people of African descent. African

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Speaker 1: leaders like Ghana's Quame and Cruma, Kenya's Julius Norere, guineas

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Speaker 1: Seco Torre, and Zambia's Kenneth Colunda promoted Pan Africanism. The

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Speaker 1: o a U was established to deal with continental issues

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Speaker 1: in post colonial Africa. There were three ideological blocks that

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Speaker 1: emerged on the continent in nineteen sixty and nineteen sixty one.

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Speaker 1: The Casablanca Group, the Brazzaville Group, and the Monrovia Group.

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Speaker 1: The Casa Blanca Group supported full continental integration and it

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Speaker 1: included Ghana, Molly, Guinea, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. The

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Speaker 1: Brassiville Group advocated for a gradual approach to unification, but

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Speaker 1: remained tied to French interests. Its members were mainly former

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Speaker 1: French colonies, including Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Senegal, Madagascar and

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Speaker 1: other countries. The Monrovia Group favored a gradual approach to

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Speaker 1: unification and a loose association of sovereign states. It included

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Speaker 1: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Togo, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Somalia, among other nations.

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Speaker 1: The idea of a continental organization was based on the

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Speaker 1: desire for a federation of African States or a United

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Speaker 1: States of Africa. Pan African Congresses were convened and at

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Speaker 1: the fifth Pan African Congress in Manchester, England, in nineteen

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Speaker 1: forty five, there were calls for an inter colonial rule

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Speaker 1: in racial discrimination, for independence of the African continent, and

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Speaker 1: for economic advancement. In nineteen fifty eight, the First Congress

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Speaker 1: of Independent African States was convened in Acra, Ghana. It

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Speaker 1: brought together leaders of nationalist movements who advocated for African solidarity.

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Speaker 1: Five years later, in what has been called Africa's Unity Year,

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Speaker 1: representatives of thirty two African governments gathered in Addis Ababa

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Speaker 1: to sign a charter for the o a U. The

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Speaker 1: o AU became operational on September thirteenth, nineteen sixty three,

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Speaker 1: when its charter went into effect. The charter said in

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Speaker 1: part that the heads of African States and governments were

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Speaker 1: quote inspired by a common determination to promote understanding among

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Speaker 1: our people's and cooperation among our states in response to

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Speaker 1: the aspirations of our people's for brotherhood and solidarity and

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Speaker 1: a larger unity transcending ethnic and national differences. The charter

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Speaker 1: also said they were quote determined to safeguard and consolidate

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Speaker 1: the hard one independence, as well as the sovereignty and

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Speaker 1: territorial integrity of our states, and to fight against neo

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Speaker 1: colonialism in all its forms. Member states were made to

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Speaker 1: coordinate their policies in politics, diplomacy, economics, and other areas.

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Speaker 1: The charter also provided for the sovereign equality of all

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Speaker 1: member states, non interference in the internal affairs of states,

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Speaker 1: respect for their sovereignty, and territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement

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Speaker 1: of disputes, and the emancipation of dependent African territories. After

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Speaker 1: de colonization, the Cold War, and the end of apartheid

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Speaker 1: in South Africa, it became clear that the o AU

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Speaker 1: was not entirely effective in its mission to create a

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Speaker 1: prosperous and united Africa. Practically, a united Africa is hard

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Speaker 1: to implement, and the o AU had both failures and successes.

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Speaker 1: It made progress in de colonization and development of international law,

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Speaker 1: while it did not do so well at bringing peace

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Speaker 1: and stability to the continent or meeting the demands of globalization.

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Speaker 1: In ninet, heads of State and Government of the o

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Speaker 1: a YOU issued the Search Declaration to call for an

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Speaker 1: African Union that better addressed the social, economic and political

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Speaker 1: challenges that Africa faced. The o a U was dissolved

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and two. The African Union, which focuses

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Speaker 1: on Africa's development and socio economic integration, replaced it. Some

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Speaker 1: of the aims of the African Union are to promote

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Speaker 1: and protect human rights, to promote peace, security and stability

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Speaker 1: on the African continent, to promote sustainable development, and to

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Speaker 1: encourage the participation of the African diaspora in African affairs.

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Speaker 1: Every year, on May, Africans and people in the African

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Speaker 1: diaspora celebrate Africa Day, a holiday that commemorates the founding

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Speaker 1: of the O A U and African Unity. I'm Eve

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Speaker 1: Defco and hopefully you know a little more about history

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Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: and Facebook at t d i h C podcast Tune

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Speaker 1: in tomorrow for another Day in History. For more podcasts

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