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African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance
African
Union (AU)
November 13, 2010
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Chapter
1
Definitions
Article 1
In this Charter,
unless otherwise stated, the following expressions shall have the
following meaning:
"AU"
means the African Union;
"African
Human Rights Commission" means the African Commission on Human
and Peoples' Rights;
"African
Peer Review Mechanism" APRM means the African Peer Review
Mechanism;
"Assembly"
means the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African
Union;
"Commission"
means the Commission of the Union;
"Constitutive
Act" means the Constitutive Act of the Union;
"Charter"
means the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;
"Member States" means the Member States of the African
Union;
"National
Electoral Body" means a competent authority, established by
the relevant legal instruments of a State Party, responsible for
organizing and supervising elections;
"NEPAD"
means the New Partnership for Africa's Development; "Peace
and Security Council" means the Peace and Security Council
of the African Union;
"Regional
Economic Communities" means the regional integration blocs
of the African Union;
"State
Party" means any Member State of the African Union which has
ratified or acceded to this Charter and deposited the instruments
for ratification or accession with the Chairperson of the African
Union Commission;
"Union"
means the African Union.
Chapter
2: Objectives
Article
2
The objectives
of this Charter are to:
1. Promote adherence,
by each State Party, to the universal values and principles of democracy
and respect for human rights;
2. Promote and
enhance adherence to the principle of the rule of law premised upon
the respect for, and the supremacy of, the Constitution and constitutional
order in the political arrangements of the State Parties;
3. Promote the
holding of regular free and fair elections to institutionalize legitimate
authority of representative government as well as democratic change
of governments;
4. Prohibit,
reject and condemn unconstitutional change of government in any
Member State as a serious threat to stability, peace, security and
development;
5. Promote and
protect the independence of the judiciary;
6. Nurture,
support and consolidate good governance by promoting democratic
culture and practice, building and strengthening governance institutions
and inculcating political pluralism and tolerance;
7. Encourage
effective coordination and harmonization of governance policies
amongst State Parties with the aim of promoting regional and continental
integration;
8. Promote State
Parties' sustainable development and human security;
9. Promote the
fight against corruption in conformity with the provisions of the
AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption adopted in
Maputo, Mozambique in July 2003;
10. Promote
the establishment of the necessary conditions to foster citizen
participation, transparency, access to information, freedom of the
press and accountability in the management of public affairs;
11. Promote
gender balance and equality in the governance and development processes;
12. Enhance
cooperation between the Union, Regional Economic Communities and
the International Community on democracy, elections and governance;
and
13. Promote
best practices in the management of elections for purposes of political
stability and good governance.
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