SUCCESSES OF THE FORMER OAU Despite these problems, the organization scored a number of successes during its early history. The OAU mediated a border dispute between Algeria and Morocco in 1964 and 1965. It also mediated the border conflicts of Somalia with Ethiopia and Kenya from 1968 to 1970. The OAU formed the African Liberation Committee in 1963 to channel financial support to movements trying to defeat Portuguese colonial rule in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique. Those movements were victorious in 1974. It also supported movements against white minority rule in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. South Africa was excluded from OAU membership until 1994, when white minority rule and apartheid (the policy of racial segregation) ended. The organization sent an observer mission to the United Nations (UN) in 1963. An observer mission refers to the representatives sent by a nation or organization that is not a member of the UN, but wishes to participate in UN discussions. Observer missions cannot vote on UN actions. The OAU also coordinated collective action among African nations at the UN. It promoted decisions that led to South Africa being barred from participating in the UN’s General Assembly in 1974, and to the admission of the People’s Republic of China to the UN in 1971. In 1986 the OAU established the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights to monitor human rights practices in member nations.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:15:37 +0000
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