2 Cameroonians elected into AU ECOSOCC

The Executive Secretary of the Groupement Inter-Patronal du Cameroun, GICAM, Alain Blaise Batongue, and the Executive Director of the Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for Peace, CAMYOSFOP, Eugine Ngalim Nyuydine, have been elected Cameroon’s representatives at the 2nd Permanent General Assembly of the African Union, AU ECOSOCC.

According to a press release dated January 16, the two were elected following the holding of the 2nd Permanent General Assembly of the AU Economic, Social and Cultural Council, ECOSOCC, that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from December 18 to 22, 2014.

Batongue and Ngalim and other newly elected members of ECOSOCC were sworn-in on December 22, 2014 in a ceremony presided at by H.E Erastus J.O. Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AU and H.E Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

The ECOSOCC is believed to be the people-centred organ of the AU where the civil society sits and contributes to AU policies. It is made up of 150 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs that include different social and professional groups in member states of the Union and African Diaspora.

Its structures include; the General Assembly, Standing Committee, Sectoral Clusters and Accreditation Committee. Each member state is represented by two persons for a mandate of four years.

The 10 thematic clusters that work side-by-side on the ground with the various Departments and Commissioners of the AU Commission are: Peace and Security; Political Affairs; Infrastructure and Energy; Social Affairs; Human Resources; Science and Technology; Trade and Industry; Rural Economy and Agriculture; Economic Affairs; Women and Gender; and Cross-Cutting Programmes.

Batongue and Ngalim have replaced Barrister Akere Muna who served as the Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC for the past four years and Barrister Charles Nguini and Gabriel OndouaAbah, who both represented Cameroon in the General Assembly.