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Martin Luther King, Jr.
AU Watch is an independent African based, non-profit research, policy, advocacy, action organization NGO and think and do tank, dedicated to originating, disseminating, and increasing understanding of the AU and its Members. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent research on a wide range of policy issues.
• We are creating a movement of people who aspire to accelerate the current pace of change towards the right types of leadership we all want to see by 2063.
• Leveraging 100% of the continent’s talent will result in better decision making and an economically sustainable, happier society. We aspire to accelerate the pace of change in Africa, and to inspire and empower our various communities to challenge received wisdom from our political class, support one another and put reforms into action.
• We exist to connect people via our unique regional network, inspiring the leaders of today to create exemplary leaders of tomorrow.
• We create an environment where you have the power to have a say in the Africa you want to see.
Why We Exist…Why Get Involved?
WE EXIST TO ADVANCE HUMAN RIGHTS, GOOD GOVERNANCE, AN AFRICA AT PEACE WITH ITSELF, AND AN AU TAKING US INTO 2063!
• AU Watch working with African International Organizations, African Civil Society Organizations and other local and international partners seeks to become one more voice and action-oriented organization in defense of human dignity and freedoms of all Africans. While recognizing the many challenges faced by the AU, we advocate finding ways to build on its strengths and use its limited resources effectively. In an era of sound bites and partisanship, AU Watch remains dedicated to providing clear, thoughtful, and independent analysis on vital public policy issues. Using all means possible —from radio, blogs, news and academic journals, Web features, op-eds and TV appearances, to conferences, research reports, speaking engagements, and books — AU Watch works vigorously to present citizens with incisive and understandable analysis of the work of the AU, its institutions and programs. In the 54 African countries, AU Watch runs hundreds of private and public events – conferences, workshops and roundtables, interviews with leading AU personalities, seminars, yearly schools athletics, football and other sports competitions, press conferences / briefings, schools / colleges debating competitions, moot court competitions for schools and colleges, spelling competitions for junior and senior schools and radio and TV debates on all AU matters.
WHO WE IMPACT
YOU – women and men, the African youth; international organizations corporate PARTNERS, and their partners; collaborative institutions, academic establishments; other networks, forums and supporters of our leadership programs. Our COMMUNITY courageously speaks up and proudly puts our values into practice in their own organizations.
• AU Watch engages the AU, its Recs and other bodies, governments, the private sector, civil society and its dynamic membership in open debate and confidential discussions on the most significant developments on AU affairs. Our organizing power will attract African leaders and the best analysts in their respective fields from across the Africa and beyond.
• We carry out independent and rigorous analysis of critical regional and country-specific challenges and opportunities. Our aim is to achieve award-winning (news and broadcast) reports, papers, books and other research outputs that will be vital resources for leaders and policy-makers in government, the private sector and civil society. AU Watch will collaborate with leading academic institutions to publish a peer review journal specifically on the AU – the ‘Journal of African Studies on the AU’. We are striving to achieve the status of Africa’s leading academic journal of international relations. Our monthly news magazine ‘AU Watch News, provides authoritative analysis and up-to-date commentary on current topics.
• Our AU Watch libraries will house some of the largest collection of specialist material on the AU and African affairs. The collections will be digitally archived and searchable. We are also setting up our online ‘AU Watch Institute for the Study of Human Rights and Development in Africa’ as a trans-disciplinary centre of excellence for regional and international academic research, teaching and critical scholarship on human rights and development. We have also created the ‘Nelson Mandela Leadership Academy’ with a view of assisting the AU and its States Parties to develop a new generation of leaders capable of crafting innovative responses to the most pressing challenges facing Africa.
HOW WE IMPACT OUR COMMUNITIES
We are a social catalyst focused on positive change via sharing KNOWLEDGE, BEST PRACTICES, TOOLS and TECHNIQUES through networking, learning events, grants and loans, instructive webinars and mentoring programs. We also promote and promote human rights through advocacy, litigation and campaigns.
Create Networking Environment
Training
Want to learn new skills and develop cutting-edge expertise with our highly practical training? Want to know how your organisation can leverage itself with AU programs? We’ve been developing the careers of professionals in the international development sector for over 10 years through our engaging courses.Our expert trainers deliver courses at our headquarters in Banjul TrainingCentre or online. We also offer bespoke charity training courses delivered in-house at your organisation’s office.
Learn about funding, project management, advocacy, leadership, monitoring and evaluation, and safeguarding.
Check out our frequently asked questions for more information on our training. Or contact us to find out more about the type of training we offer.
We Support You To Boost Your Impact
Civil society in Africa is undergoing interesting changes. But many simply don’t know how to buy into those changes. We strengthen NGOs and charities to be more effective and sustainable through our support services, tools and expertise. We help you to adapt to new challenges by ensuring that you are agile and resilient. Our support services have been designed in response to NGOs’ needs in an ever-changing, complex environment. We focus on core areas like funding, media, communication and advocacy, transparency,monitoring and evaluation.
Our tools, insights and support equip organisations to be more agile, demonstrate their impact and become financially sustainable. We also develop the skills of people in the sector through our events and training.
Our resource library offers useful reports, toolkits, research, how-to-guides, briefings, case studies and more for people working in Africa international development and humanitarian assistance in Africa. As well as AU Watch’s own publications and guides, we link to other useful resources for charities and NGOs.
Intellectual Independence
AU Watch generates ideas and fosters debate on policy issues facing AU, promoting constructive leadership and engagement in regional and international affairs based on the central role of the AU in meeting the regional challenges of the 21stcentury. Through its media and outreach services, it is also dedicated to bringing information and analysis to those who make or influence policy on the AU and to assisting AU and African leaders with building democracies and market economies. It is our aim to be recognized as a source of timely, insightful analysis on issues of AU policy. Staffed by noted specialists and serving as a valuable resource to officials in the highest levels of government, its directors and staff members and contributing authors represent a diverse community united by a common belief in AU Watch’s mission of renewing the AU for regional and global challenges.
AU Watch embodies a nonpartisan network of leaders, researchers, analysts and activists who:
Recognize that closer cooperation cannot solve all regional challenges, but it is often a precondition for dealing with them effectively;
Are committed to ensuring that the AU Watch community remains an influential catalyst for regional and global cooperation and an important partner of AU engagement in the world.
What We believe In
RESPECT: Our volunteers, our partners and all who contribute to the advancement of Agenda 2063 and an Africa at peace with itself
COURAGE: It takes bravery to advance real change
GRATITUDE: We are thankful for the contribution of every one of you, our supporters
COLLABORATIVE INTELLIGENCE: We work together to achieve great things
EXCELLENCE: We do the best we can – and love to exceed expectations
TALENT: We nurture talent to build a brighter future
PROGRESS: We make it happen.
Help You Develop Your Knowledge and Skills
How much do you know about the programs of the AU and its Recs? Well … that’s were we come in.
• Thought leadership programs – helping you to understand what is happening withing Africa’s foremost multilateral institution and you can be an integral part of the decision’s being made.
• Self-development programs – building and refining your practical speaking and even leadership skills and competences.
• Hundreds of different types of events, around the world, every year.
• Dynamic content and news on the latest and greatest insights to help you advance your knowledge about the AU its Members and their programs for Agenda 2063.
• Interactive Forums for you to discuss and debate with our global membership.
• Advanced global online networking as well as face-to-face local networking
• Offer volunteer opportunities – a great way for you to build your skills and demand a say in the Africa you want to see in 2063.
Our Lectures
Follow our monthly Madiba Radio Lectures inspired by the vision of Africa’s leading icon and statesman, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,to mark and celebrate his historic contribution to Africa. Our Madiba Lectures integrates teaching and research on Africa with an aim to encourage both teaching-led research and research-led teaching. We hold annual colloquiums on a range of topics relevant to Africa. Previous colloquiums have discussed the legacy of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the idea of ubuntu and the work of Kwame Nkrumah. This year’s colloquium focuses on the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in achieving social justice in Africa.
Workshops, Seminars and Conferences:
As well as hosting our own events and conferences, which will normally run for two or three days, AU Watch staff, volunteers and Governors attend and exhibit at a range of conferences, meetings and workshops throughout the year. These gathering tend to deal with understanding and debating a specific theme or area where we think our input and intervention will make a difference. Our Workshops are normally a small class in which the facilitator leads in-depth discussions on a specific theme. Some of our workshops and seminars are attended by invitation only. Many of our training programs are conducted through our Workshops.
Subscribe to our newsletter to hear about our latest events.
Publications
Since decisions of Africa’s transformation are too important to be left in the hands of policy makers and politicians in executive circles to decide upon alone, CSOs like AU Watch will continue to play an active role of accelerating transformation, of policy formulation and seismic shifts from rhetoric to reality in Africa. In that regard, AU Watch aims to be a major publishing establishment assisting the AU in Africa’s transformative journey. Part of our vision is for AU Watch to become the principal informative hub for Africa about the AU, thereby contributing toward the promotion of democracy, human rights, multidimensional security, and the advancement of sustainable and inclusive development.
Emergency Humanitarian Aid
AU Watch is a regional emergency humanitarian aid organization which offers the most effective and prompt emergency aid in response to regional developments, focusing on issues of refugees and natural disasters. AU Watch conducts such aid through a tripartite cooperation system where NGOs, business communities, and African governments close cooperation, based on equal partnership, and making the most of the respective sectors’ characteristics and resources.
Account name:AU Watch
Bank name:Eco Bank, Ltd, The Gambia
Bank Address:Kairaba Avenue
Swift code:BOTKJPJT
Account No.:0717028
Practical Assistance
Together with you, we inspire people to discover and adopt ingenious, practical ways to free themselves from the chains of poverty and hopelessness. We design and implement activities that enable communities to realize their own potential. This approach provides sustainable solutions to locally identify needs, making communities stronger and more self-sufficient. We
• Address some of Africa’s most basic challenges of poverty and helplessness by unlocking opportunity for people in vulnerable places.
• Are humanitarians and environmentalists, philanthropists and investors, farmers and feminists.
• Help create businesses and jobs for some of Africa’s most vulnerable communities
• Help pioneers turn dreams into reality, vision into mission.
• Mentor, share experience and network.
• Innovate and encourage creative thinking.
• Facilitate entrepreneurial action, building social capital and sustainability.
Practical Assistance to African NGOs
We also offer practical assistance to African NGOs to improve their effectiveness on the ground. We offer support, advice and training on:
• Strengthening CSOs in Africa
• Connecting all African NGOs to the worldwide web
• Connecting all schools in Africa to the worldwide web
• Web design and development for African CSOs
• Web support and web hosting, content management system
• Domain registration and search engine optimization
• NGO Registration and Management
• Training, volunteering, fundraising
• Project Proposals
• Media and Communication Work for the NGO Community
• NGO Jobs
Our Knowledge of Africa and the AU
We hold firm to the conviction that to properly understand the AU, and indeed many of the challenges of Africa demands not only an understanding of African international affairs, but a deep and comprehensive knowledge of the culture and history of Africa and its various constituents, and continuous interaction with a broad cross-section of these societies. The teams at AU Watch are some of the finest scholars and analysts in their various fields of endeavour, with a thorough understanding of the politics and social dynamics of Africa. Many of them worked with the AU for many years. We are therefore in the best position to develop new ideas on how best to confront critical issues faced by the AU and Africa and take advantage of opportunities to resolve challenges confronting it. Using what we have learned as an organisation, our expert knowledge, experience and ideas enable us to shape the future of many of the issues we follow at AU Watch. Policy recommendations are developed in collaboration with our policymakers, experts and stakeholders.
Our media work
Creative, informative and entertaining media outputs are at the core of our approach. At AU Watch we believe that media and communication can inform, connect and empower. They can help people, institutions and even governments bring about critical and lasting changes.AU Watch advocacy and outreach activitiesare two major strandsof our communication approach.
Every Chapter / Section will eventually have an AU Watch Studio sourcing and providing content for that Chapter. The Chapters / Sections will provide audio-visual and print materials for use by community groups or outreach workers and work with local community organizations to convene discussion groups, road shows, street theatre and community events on issues that affect their daily lives and that are important to AU Watch. The objective is to reach people who might not ordinarily have access to mass media and facilitate more discussion, deepening our impact and providing vital opportunities for audiences to input into program-making.
AU Watch will produce TV news and programs, radio dramas, radio call-in, magazine shows, public service advertisements, billboards and interactive content for mobile phones. They will make arrangements with national and local radio and TV stations to carry content about AU Watch activities and events. Working in partnership with local media houses
AU Watch Studios will also be of service to the community. It will be able to sell its expertise and services to government, CSOs and individuals who may choose to use it. It will be able to sell its services and cover, conferences, meetings, workshops, parties, and other events and activities. AU Watch Studios will also be an online streaming service that delivers delightful experiences by broadcasting top online entertainment. Subscribers can watch prime television programs & movies from anywhere in the world. It will link subscribers with some of the best content around.
What AU Watch Studios Provide
AU Watch services can be streamed across multiple devices and operating systems such as Mac, tablets, mobile smartphone, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox and many other platforms. All you need to do is to subscribe on the AU Watch website.
AU Watch Studiosis a photographers’ casting agency, model agency and production companies dream space, and the ideal space to shoot portfolios, small production TV commercials, videos, auditions and castings.At AU Watch Studios we aim to be both helpful and efficient, allowing your production to run as smoothly as possible, whilst also being an enjoyable experience. AU Watch Studioshas all the usual facilities you would expect (and some you wouldn’t) from a professional studio space for hire. See our studio hirepage for a full list, but just to give you a flavor of what we offer, here’s a selection: All studios are fully equipped with contemporary seating areas, Wi-Fi, iMacs, iPod connection, changing areas and kitchen facilities. A full range of lighting, sitting, equipment and tent hire is available along with the option of onsite set building.
We place a strong emphasis on training and development for our staff members, at all levels. As well as language courses, we offer our staff a wide range of training programs to help them meet the evolving challenges of their work. We also have a policy to encourage mobility within the organization, allowing staff to broaden their knowledge and expertise in different areas.
Our clients include the AU, its Recs, organs and programs, States Parties to the African Charter, the UN, the Inter-American Human Rights Court, the European Union, other non-African governments, CSOs, other national and international partners, donors, academic institutions, think-tanks and universities around the world.
For more information about what our consultancy services offer, please consult our detailed consultancy service policy brief here or email us at: [email protected].
Interested? Please get in touch at our address below. Or find us at:
