Africa Day will be commemorated on May 25th during the African Union Commission (AUC) Extra Ordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Regime in Africa in Malabo. However, through-out the continent attention will also be paid to the African Union’s (AU) 2022 Year of Nutrition, promoting a host of strategies including:
- Building Resilience
- Multisectoral and interdisciplinary approach
- Link between agriculture and nutrition
- Improving nutrition through systemic change
- Investments in nutrition
- Commitments to actions.
“The AU’s part of the long-term vision set out in Agenda 2063 … has adopted common African aspirations, drawing on the potential of its populations, in particular, a human capital well-nourished citizens and in good health with a particular emphasis on women, adolescents and children.”
In the post pandemic era, Africa is paying more attention to health, hygiene and nutrition. Realizing the need for self-sufficiency in the face of numerous challenges, Africa Day should help African governments and society alike recall the OAU Charter written by the Founding Father’s emphasizing aspirations of “…freedom, equality, justice and dignity… Inspired by a common determination to promote understanding among our peoples and cooperation among our states in response to the aspirations of our peoples for brother-hood and solidarity, in a larger unity transcending ethnic and national differences… .”
H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie said at the opening of the OAU, “This is indeed a momentous and historic day for Africa and for all Africans. We stand today on the stage of world affairs before the audience of world opinion. We have come together to assert our role in the direction of world affairs and to discharge our duty to the great continent whose 250 million people we lead. Africa is today at midcourse, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of Tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past into the future. The task on which we have embarked, the making of Africa, will not wait. We must act, to shape and mould the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history. This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults. Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.” While Founding Father, President Kwame Nkrumah stated at the same opening, “I am happy to be here in Addis Ababa on this most historic occassion. I bring with me the hopes and fraternal greetings of the government and people of Ghana. Our objective is African union now. There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish. I am confident that by our concerted effort and determination, we shall lay here the foundations for a continental Union of African States. It is our responsibility to execute this mandate by creating here and now, the formula upon which the requisite superstructure may be created. On this continent, it has not taken us long to discover that the struggle against colonialism does not end with the attainment of national independence. Independence is only the prelude to a new and more involved struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs; to construct our society according to our aspirations, unhampered by crushing and humiliating neo-colonialist control and interference. From the start we have been threatened with frustration, where rapid change is imperative, and with instability, where sustained effort and ordered rule are indispensable. No sporadic act nor pious resolution can resolve our present problems. Nothing will be of avail, except the united act of a united Africa.”
These sentiments shared 59 years ago are still relevant. So in the spirit of AU Year of Nutrition, let us nourish our bodies, minds and spirits in order to achieve the Africa we want on our terms. The saying that “…man cannot live by bread alone…” stands. More than ever Africans must search out truth, knowledge and methodologies to further advance our development. Paying attention to tradition is key; be it food, the arts, clothing and the plethora of culture available on the continent. Ethiopia has set many examples and should continue to be a light of liberation for Africans as a country never colonized; evidenced by language, calendar, time, food and more. In Addis Ababa, the diplomatic capital of Africa, please find time on May 25th to stop for a moment and reflect on the positive gains and potential of Africa and let us give thanks for this great continent and remember the OAU Founding Fathers who had faith in our future. Happy Africa Day!
Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.
