" [1]Debre Zeit, Ethiopia 7 September 2011- A three day retreat to prepare for the elaboration of a comprehensive capacity building programme for the African Union, under the United Nations- African Union Ten Year Capacity Building Programme (TYCBP) is being held in Debre Zeit, from 7-9 September.
The focus is to see how best the two organisations can implement one of the principal recommendations of the 11th ordinary session of the AU Assembly, namely the elaboration of a comprehensive capacity building programme for the AU, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECS).
The AU strategic plan is the starting point for the formulation of the programme. That plan has six programme areas i.e. peace and security, shared values, integration, development, cooperation, and institutional capacity building.
AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Mr. Erastus Mwencha told the 85 delegates attending the retreat that a capacity building programme for African Union is important to enable the institution to tackle challenges on the continent such as ensuring peace and security, human resource development, food security, infrastructural development, improving governance and health etc. The Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa Mr. Abdoulie Janneh emphasized the need for adoption of concrete activities that have tangible results.
The Debre Zeit retreat is the first phase of the elaboration of the capacity building programme. It is being attended by senior management of the AU Commission, headed by the Deputy Chairperson Mr. Erastus Mwencha; the United Nations Economic Community for Africa (ECA) headed by the Executive Secretary Mr. Abdoulie Janneh; programme managers; representatives of the NPCA, African Peer Review mechanism, Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM), and Regional Economic Communities; and members of the joint RCM Joint Secretariat.
The declaration ushering in the TYCBP was signed in 2006 by the then UN Secretary General and the then Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
