Policy Papers

This guide is a tool to assist activists to engage with African Union policies and programs. It describes the AU decision-making process and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the AU institutions. 

Malawi is one of the world’s least-developed countries, ranked number 166 of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index.

Recognizing that poor communities in developing countries are the least responsible for climate change but most vulnerable to its impacts, the Bali Action Plan calls for ‘new a

• Climate change is the number one threat to human development.

Based on a survey by Oxfam International and Save the Children

In the Sahel region of West Africa, the ability to access food has become the key issue in terms of food securi

Preparations for disaster and a quick initial response by local government officials and non-governmental organizations saved many lives after Cyclone Sidr struck the southern coastal areas of Ban

The world’s poor must not pay the price for the collapse of financial markets. Without immediate action, millions will suffer.

Diseases that disproportionately affect the developing world cause immense suffering and ill health.

• Medical innovation has the potential to deliver n

The recent sharp increase in food prices should have benefited millions of poor people who make their living from agriculture.

Irresponsible arms transfers are undermining many developing countries’ chances of achieving their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets.

The humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) continues (see ‘The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion’).

Despite new peace agreements, continued conflict among and between armed militias and government forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last year has seen thousands

Despite the absence of a final peace settlement, a dramatic improvement in security in war-ravaged northern Uganda is allowing displaced civilians to return home and has transformed

The international community took an important step in deploying the UN and EUFOR mission to volatile and insecure eastern Chad.

In failing to tackle climate change with urgency, rich countries are effectively violating the human rights of millions of the world’s poorest people.

Climate change is having a destructive impact on many groups around the world.

Policy makers lament women’s vulnerablity to HIV infection, yet for 15 years they have failed to utilise a technology which can help women to protect and empower themselves.

When trade ministers from 35 countries gather in Geneva at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for what is being billed yet again as a last-ditch attempt to forge a Doha trade deal, t

Biofuels are presented in rich countries as a solution to two crises: the climate crisis and the oil crisis.