TO THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE
FORUM OF AFRICAN FORMER HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT (AFRICA FORUM)
The Africa Forum will constitute an informal network of former African Heads of State and Government and other African leaders designed to support the implementation of the broad objectives of the African Union (AU) and its initiative, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), at national, sub-regional and regional levels.
With the specific functions of advocacy and think tanking, the Africa Forum will help harness the experience, moral authority and good offices of the former African Heads of State and Government and other African leaders with the view to assisting the advancement Africa's social and economic development.
INSPIRED by the noble ideals of Pan-Africanism and the determination to promote unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples of Africa and African states;
H.E. Nelson R. Mandela – Former President of the Republic of South Africa ( Patron )
DETERMINED to support the implemen-tation of the broad objectives of the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD);
H.E. Alberto Joaquim Chissano – Former President of the Republic of Mozambique (Chairman)
DETERMINED to promote and protect human and peoples' rights, consolidate democratic institutions ands culture, and to enhance democratic governance and the rule of law;
H.E. Nicephore D. Soglo – Former president of the republic of Benin ( Vice Chairman )
Dr. John Tesha
(Executive Secretary)
ENCOURAGED by the emerging democratic practices in Africa and the concomitant determination among African leaders to relinquish power upon the expiry of their term of office and committed to the promotion of popular participation in development;
NOW THEREFORE we, former African Heads of State and Government, decide to establish a forum called the AFRICA FORUM and to adopt the following Statute
Vision
The Africa Forum will deploy its best efforts to contribute to the creation of a continent that is stable, secure and prosperous. It shares and is motivated by the objectives of the AU and its initiative NEPAD, to place African countries, both individually and collectively, on the path to sustainable development, to halt the economic and political marginalisation of Africa and to enhance the continent's full and beneficial integration into the global economy. The Africa Forum will be based on the common vision of a united and strong Africa and on the need to build a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society, in particular women, youth, and the private sector, in order to strengthen solidarity and cohesion amongst the peoples of Africa.
There is, indeed, a growing list of former African Heads of State and Government who have relinquished power through democratic elections over the past two decades. It is important for Africa to recognize that these leaders have a reservoir of knowledge,
expertise and experience of the development challenges facing the African continent.
Against this background, it is being proposed that former African heads of state and government establish their own Forum to be called the Africa Forum.
