as part of the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue



Information Note on African Week
European Parliament 8-12 September 2008


African Week will take place in the European Parliament during the week 8-12 September 2008, as part of the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue (EYID).

The EYID - and African Week as part of it - have been approved by the Conference of Presidents and the Bureau of the European Parliament. Committees and Delegations were invited to participate in the week's events.

The activities which will take place during the week are:

- Committees and delegations will put a special focus on African issues in their agendas. This will cover of course the external policies committees, the JPA Bureau and Committee meetings, the PAP delegation, and also the internal policies committees, such as AGRI, FEMM and CULT

- A roundtable on the role of diaspora in development on Wednesday evening, 10 September.

- Cultural activities both inside and outside Parliament such as music, dance and cinema... A public concert of African music is proposed by the city of Ixelles on Wednesday evening, 10 September.

The EP President met the AU Permanent Representative in Brussels in April. The AU missions will suggest activities and participate in the activities, with a strong emphasis on the diaspora in Brussels. They created a group in charge of the follow-up.

The highlight of the week should happen Thursday, between 11.00 and 12.30, with President Pöttering, President of the PAP Gertrude Mongella and President Barroso of the Commission.


Also to be noted - 4 receptions will take place for JPA and PAP Members:
- Monday evening at the Brussels City Hall Grand Place
- Tuesday evening at the European Parliament in the framework of the opening of the exhibition
- Wednesday evening before the African Concert at the Ixelles City Hall
- Thursday after the joint session

External guests who want to participate in African week should register (with name, nationality, date of birth and say which event they would like to attend) one week in advance at the following address: intercultural.dialogue@europarl.europa.eu


Monday to Thursday timetable:

Time slot Activities
9.00-12:30 Committees, Delegations
12.45-14.45 Small cultural events
15:00-18:30 Committees, Delegations
18:30-20:30 Seminars, roundtables
20:30-22:00 Cultural event


Preliminary Programme*:

Full agendas of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly are available on:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/acp/10_01/default_en.htm

The activities mentioned in this programme are the activities which are directly related to Africa and/or Intercultural Dialogue, in the framework of Africa Week. For the full agendas and official programmes of committees and delegations, please consult www.europarl.europa.eu


Monday, 8 September 2008
Journée mondiale de l'alphabétisation
13.00 - 15.00
Projection of the film "Keita, l'héritage du griot" Dani Kouyaté (Burkina Faso) followed by a debate on tradition and modernity

19.00
Reception at City Hall of Brussels, offered by Mayor Thielemans for MEPs and ACP delegates (invitation only)
Bus from the ACP House rue Georges Henri to Brussels City Hall - departure 19:00

Tuesday, 9 September 2008
9.00 - 12.30
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Exchange of views with African female ambassadors tbc
ASP 3E2
12.45-14.45
African menu in the ASP restaurants
Different small cultural events:
- Poetry reading
- Literature presentation
- Storyteller (griot/jeli)

15.00 - 18.00
Meeting of the ACP-EU Bureau (not open to the public)
Room ASP 1G2


18.30 -19.00
The European Parliament's Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy
Opportunities for Collaboration with African Parliaments - Presentation and Q&A
Room ASP 3E3

19.00-21.00

Formal opening of the exhibition, small concert and reception chaired by Luisa Morgantini, on behalf of President Pöttering

From Passerelle Karamanlis space to Yehudi Menuhin space

Wednesday, 10 September 2008
9.30 - 12.30
Meeting of the ACP-EU Bureau (not open to the public)
Room ASP 1G2

Committee on Development
Extraordinary meeting on the food facility with: chaired by Josep Borrell, Chair of the Committee on Development, European Parliament, with Gay Mitchell, MEP, rapporteur, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank (tbc), Jacques Diouf, FAO, and Josette Sheeran, WFP.
Room ASP 1G2

12.45 - 14.45
African menu in the ASP restaurants
Different small cultural events:
- Poetry reading
- Literature presentation
- Storyteller (griot/jeli)

15.00 - 18.30
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Public hearing - Intercultural dialogue on food security: Edson Mpyisi, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission, Philip Machara Kiriro, Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAAF), Ndiogou Fall, President of ROPPA, Network of farmers' and producers' organisations in West Africa / Réseau des organisations paysannes et de producteurs d'Afrique de l'Ouest, H.E. Ibrahim Bocar Ba, Ambassador of Mali in Brussels, Tom Arnold, Concern Worldwide, Sister Nora McNamara, missionary nun with great experience in the developing world, Mairead McGuinness, MEP, rapporteur on global food security
Room PHS 5B001

ACP-EU Committee on Political Affairs
Challenges to democratic accommodation of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in ACP and EU countries with Sabine Riedel, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Berlin) and Mohamed Salih, Professor of Politics of Development (The Hague)
Room PHS 7C50

ACP-EU Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade
Room ASP 1E2

ACP-EU Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment
Room ASP 5G2

18.45 - 20.00
Committee on Development
Roundtable on the role of African Diaspora in development - chaired by Josep Borrell, Chair of the Committee on Development, European Parliament
The Brain Drain and its impact on African development, by Spyros Amoranitis, Director of the Institute for Research, Training and Action on Migrations and President of the European Network on Migration and Development
Transfer of remittances, by Moïse Essoh, MOJA - General Council of the Africans in Belgium
Intercultural dialogue - a way to raise awareness on Africa's reality in the host countries, by Suzanne Monkasa, Council of African Communities in Europe
Room ASP 5G3

18.00 - 24.00
African concert open to the public, Place Fernand Cocq (European Parliament in cooperation with the commune of Ixelles)
PAS mal + (DRC) Dobet Gnahore (Ivory Coast) BONGA (Angola) Bai Kamara JR (Sierra Leone)
Bus from the European Parliament to the Maison communale of Ixelles - departures from the front of PHS building at 19:15 and 20:00

Thursday, 11 September 2008
9.00 - 11.00
Subcommittee on Security and Defence
Meeting with African Union Ambassador H.E. Mahamat Saleh Annadif
Room...
9.00 - 10.30
Subcommittee on Human Rights
Perspectives of the African human rights institutions, Nobuntu Mbelle, Co-ordinator, The Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, Justice Fatsah Ouguergouz, African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and Sanji Monageng, Chair of the Commission, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights tbc
Room...
9.00 - 10.45
ACP-EU Committee on Political Affairs
Room PHS 1A002
ACP-EU Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade
Room ASP 1E2
ACP-EU Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment
Room ASP 5G2
11.00 - 12.30

Extraordinary meeting of African week with the participation of

Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament
José-Manuel Duraõ Barroso, President of the European Commission

Panel on intercultural dialogue with Wole Soyinka, writer, Nobel Prize for Literature (Nigeria), Bience Gawanas, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, in charge of culture (Addis-Abeba) and Malick Sidibé, photographer (Mali)

Gertrude Mongella, President of the Pan-African Parliament

Room ASP 1AOO2 (Anna Lindh Room)

Followed by a small concert and reception (on invitation)
Espace Menhuin
12.45 - 14.45
Different small cultural events:
- Poetry reading
- Literature presentation
- Storyteller (griot/jeli)
14.30 - 16.00
Joint Meeting - Ad-hoc committee for relations with the European Parliament and Ad-hoc delegation for relations with the Pan-African Parliament
Room ASP 5G2