CARIBBEAN-ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES AFRICAN DIASPORA AFFAIRS
Functions of COADA
As an advisory group, the COADA’s functions are to:
Contribute (through advice) to the effective translation of the objectives, principles
and policies of the AU into concrete programmes and to evaluate these
programmes
Undertake studies recommended (or deemed necessary) by organs of the AU or the
COADA and submit recommendations accordingly
Carry out other studies deemed necessary and submit recommendations as
appropriate
Contribute to the popularization, participation, sharing of best practices and expertise
and realization of the vision and objectives of the AU
Contribute to the promotion of human rights according to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the rule of law, good governance, democratic principles, gender
equality and children’s rights
Promote and support efforts of institutions engaged in review of the future of Africa
and forge Pan-African values to enhance an African society and way of life, based on
the International Organization for Standardization 26000 model
Foster and consolidate partnership between the AU (through the COADA and allied
NGOs through public education, mobilization and feedback on the activities of the AU
and the needs of the African diaspora
Assume other functions as referred to it by the AU
COADA Operational Principals-
- COADA operational principles adopted in 2015 that:
We support the African Union [AU], it’s constitutive act and the history of the predecessor
organization the Organisation of African Unity [OAU].
We support the recognition of the African Diaspora globally and legally by the AU.
We support the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its application to
Africans and their condition worldwide.
We support the UN Millennium Development Goals for Africa and the economic-
social uplift of Africans on the continent and in the African Diaspora as well work of
the African Union in regards to increasing trade between African Nations and will
incorporate the work of the International Year for People of African Descent [2011] as
it was designated by the UN and Organization of American States.
We support the strategy and agenda of the Economic, Social and Cultural
Council (ECOSOCC) and through organization of African American Civil Society we
support the legacy projects and continuing efforts to strengthen the Global African
Diaspora Initiative of the AU.
We support Peace, Security and basic human dignity within Africa and around the
globe, with an emphasis on stopping slavery in the AU and the African Diaspora.
We support the organization of African and peoples of African descent self-interest
and uplift through a committee structure and take responsibility for organizing such in
the United States of America.
We support the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of 2000 and by 2014 the
creation of a new plan between the United States of America and the African Union
that is supportive of the African Diaspora in the US and would be sustainable not
only in Africa but also in the host countries of the African Diaspora.
We support political empowerment of Africans as individual citizens and in free
associations on cooperation and solidarity in the continent and in Diaspora.
We support the creation of the African American Diaspora Holding Company& Investment Trust who will start with creating a financial solution in response to the
damage caused by Hurricane Sandy through the US Federal Reserve and its banks.
Diaspora representation proposal
On the 49th Africa Day (May 25, 2012), the COADA in association with FAU and the others proposed that members of the African Diaspora in the Caribbean and OAS States have votes in the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), an AU organization. At its inauguration in Durban, South Africa in July 2002, the African Union embarked on a course to transform and integrate the continent. The aims and hopes of the AU were a response to calls for democracy and development from Africa’s NGOs. The continent’s leaders were determined to build a union which was people-oriented. Aware of the rich and diverse human and institutional resources at the grass roots level, the new union would be devoted to building strong partnerships between governments and all segments of society. The AU did not wish to organize civil society; rather, the ECOSOCC’s organizing principle is one in which civil society would organize itself to work with the AU. Since the launch of ECOSOCC’s Permanent General Assembly in 2008, its challenge is to build its own institutions and establish a format for partnering with other groups as it performs its function of providing advisory opinions to the AU. These are the issues which engage ECOSOCC as a young institution of the African Union.