Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 28 January 2016: Ms. Khellaf Nedjat, Director of Conference Management and Publications (DCMP) of the African Union Commission (AUC), on 27 January 2016, addressed the press on the margins of the 26th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government which brought together renowned media representatives from all over the continent.

Mrs. Nedjat, highlighted the role of her Directorate and the measures put in place by the AU Commission to ensure a smooth and successful holding of all the meetings of the Decision Making Organs of the Union during the Summit such as the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), the Executive Council and the Assembly of Heads of State and Government including the side events. These meetings are currently taking place from 21-31 January 2016 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “The Commission has mobilized and deployed all the necessary resources to ensure the successful holding of all the meetings”, she said.

Regarding the role of the Directorate of Conference Management and Publications in the preparation of the 26th AU Summit, Mrs. Najet Khelaf said her Directorate has mobilized all the technical, human and material resources to respond, in the best way possible, to all the requests from Departments of the Commission and Member States. “ For that purpose, we reviewed, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary-General, the programme of events, and tried to identify time slots for scheduled meetings in order to reduce, as much as possible, any overlapping” .

The Director of DCMP however pointed out that this was a rather difficult task, especially during the Executive Council Session, since many meetings are scheduled over the coming 3 days by reason of their nature, and most of them having to report to the Executive Council or the Assembly. “During the Executive Council Session, my programme indicates that we have to service 33 meetings, at the rate of at least 10 per day, and 17 press conferences”, stated Mrs. Najet. She added that, to ensure success of all these meetings, the DCMP has taken a number of steps at the technical, human and material levels which include the followings:

- Teams of interpreters and translators have been mobilized to ensure the flow of oral and written communication in the languages of the Union;

- Information screens have been set up at strategic locations to provide information on meeting halls and times, and this information is updated in real time;

- For meetings that do not go beyond the time frame envisaged in the programme, notably the main events, that is, the Executive Council and the Assembly, we have ensured that speaking time is properly managed, that is, 3 minutes for Ministers and 5 for Heads of State;

Meanwhile, one of the major innovations for this year’s AU Summit is that, to facilitate access to working and reference documents by Member States, and to make them available in real-time, the DCMP launched, at the opening of the PRC on 18 January2016, the electronic meetings initiative which was lauded by our Ambassadors and the Commission. In this regard, all meeting rooms have been equipped with electronic devices which allow online access to the working documents in the working languages of the AU. According to Director Najet, the electronic devices will greatly facilitate the work of the Union, in that all participants will have access in real time to the working documents without waiting for them to be printed. Member States may consult, download, immediately forward by email, copy them to flash drives, make notes, etc ... A small number of copies of the hard copies agenda will be reproduced and distributed, at the request of Member States just while the users are getting more familiar with the new devices.

The documentary database contains all working documents of the Summit as well as reference documents, namely, all official documentation of the 17 AU Summits since 2008, the full text of all Declarations and Decisions of the Assembly and the Executive Council of the AU since 2002, as well as all Decisions of OAU Summits and of the Council of Ministers since 1963. It comprises 16,000 documents in the four working languages of the Union.

Member States have lauded the introduction of new information technology at meetings of the Commission and welcomed the positive impact this will have on their work.

Director Nedjat also added that the documentary database contains all working documents of the Summit as well as reference documents, namely, all official documentation of the 17 AU Summits since 2008, the full text of all Declarations and Decisions of the Assembly and the Executive Council of the AU since 2002, as well as all Decisions of OAU Summits and of the Council of Ministers since 1963.

Media inquiries should be directed to:

Mrs Esther Azaa Tankou| Ag. Director of Information and Communication | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 (0) 911361185 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org|

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For further information:

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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Directorate of Information and Communication
Directorate of Information and Communication | Information and Communication | African Union Commission

Tel: +251-11-5517700 | Fax: | E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org | Web:www.au.int

Addis Ababa | Ethiopia