African Union
The African Union is the successor organization to the Organization of African Unity.
Founded in July 2002, its first chairman was South African president Thabo Mbeki. Modeled after the European Union, its goals are to help promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa, especially increasing foreign investment through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) program.
Goals for the African Union include an African parliament and a central development bank. As with its predecessor the OAU, the African Union is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Pan African Parliament opened officially September 16, 2004 in South Africa.
Because of the membership of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), Morocco has chosen not to be a member.
The AU's first military intervention in a member state was the May 2003 deployment of a peacekeeping force made up of soldiers from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique to Burundi to oversee the implementation of the various agreements. The mission was known as AMIB, and has since been taken over by the United Nations, which has designated it ONUB.
In response to the ongoing Darfur crisis, the AU has deployed 300 soldiers, mostly from Rwanda, to Darfur to protect the AU observers. It is currently considering the deployment of up to 2500 peacekeepers to the region.
Member countries (listed by their official names):
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