A study Day comprising five panel discussions held on May 27, 2016 in Yaounde.

A joint publication evaluating 15 years of the existence of the African Union (AU) will be out soon. Lectures, which will form the content of the book, were presented by university dons in five different panel discussions during a study day organised on May 27, 2016 at the IRIC campus in Yaounde in the presence of the Representative of the African Union to Cameroon, H.E. Jean Gérard Mezui M’Ella.

During the solemn opening of the academic event in the “Amphitheatre 300”, IRIC’s Director, Pierre Emmanuel Tabi, said the African Union’s creation could be traced back to the Syrte Conference in September 1999 in Libya and the adoption of the Constitutive Act in July 2000 in Lome, Togo. This entered into application on May 26, 2001 after being ratified by two thirds of member States of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

Notwithstanding its observer status at the AU, IRIC has the tradition of promoting scientific and political discussions aimed at structuring African thought. To this effect, the study day aimed at drawing a balance sheet while formulating future actions for an Africa without war, famine, violation of human rights and which really participates in global governance.

“As contributors, you face a challenge; that of scientific excellence,” IRIC’s boss told he panelists before disclosing that out of the 88 lecture proposals on 400 text pages received by the Scientific Committee, 53 were preselected. The different lectures came from nine universities and public institutions in several countries such as Cameroon, France, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.