Uganda wins bid to host the African Humanitarian Agency

Uganda has been selected to host the African Humanitarian Agency, a specialized technical agency of the African Union. This decision was made during the 45th Session of the African Union Executive Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Accra, Ghana.

According statements issued July 19th 2024 by both the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, and Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda emerged as the top choice from among four countries that submitted bids, including Kenya, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea.

The evaluation process was conducted by an independent team from the African Union Commission, which assessed the proposals and suitability of each country to host the agency.

In addition to hosting the African Humanitarian Agency, Uganda’s Justice Duncan Gaswaga has been appointed as a Judge to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for a six-year term. The Statements indicate that this appointment was made during the same Executive Council session, with an overwhelming majority of 46 member states voting in favor.

The Ugandan government has welcomed these developments, citing the country’s experience in dealing with humanitarian action and its established legal and institutional frameworks for managing forcibly displaced persons.

The Statement quotes the Permanent Representative to the African Union, Ambassador Rebecca Otengo who expressed excitement at the win. “This is the first African Union Agency hosted by Uganda since joining the Union when it was first called the Organisation of African Union (OAU),” she said.

Speaking from Kampala, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gen. Jeje Odongo said “Uganda being the largest refugee hosting country on the African Continent with established legal and institutional frameworks on forcibly displaced persons and impeccable experience in dealing with humanitarian action made her an acceptable candidate to many African Union Members.

He added that this is doubled by the goodwill enjoyed by the Ambassador and members of Ugandan Embassy among other African Union Member states in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to the statement, the process for the operationalization of the Agency in Uganda has already begun with the approval of the budget to recruit the top management staff of the Agency during Financial Year 2025/2026.

The African Humanitarian Agency is expected to play a critical role in coordinating and providing humanitarian responses to affected member states, while Justice Gaswaga’s appointment to the African Court will help strengthen the continent’s human rights framework.

According to sources in Judiciary who preferred not to be quoted as they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the Institution, these developments demonstrate Uganda’s growing influence and leadership in regional and continental affairs, and its commitment to promoting humanitarian action and human rights.

Background:

The Assembly of the African Union at the 11th AU Humanitarian symposium that sat in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2023, adopted a decision to establish a Humanitarian Agency as part of African Union vision to strengthen its Human Architecture.

In April 2023, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni received a delegation from the African Union led by Prof. Julio Rakotonirina, the Head of AU Health Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development to evaluate Uganda’s bid to host the African Union Humanitarian.