The activities of this week of celebration will culminate at the Millennium Hall anniversary celebrations on the evening of Saturday 25 May 2013 following the 50th OAU/AU Anniversary Summit earlier in the day.

The week celebrates the 50th anniversary of the OAU/AU. In addition to the Heads of State and Government from Africa another, Addis Ababa will host 20 leaders from around the world including the leaders of Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Republic of Ireland, Russia, and Sweden as well as top level delegations from China, India, State of Palestine, Brunei, New Zealand, Islamic Republic of Iran, Indonesia and others.

Other invited guests include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of UNDP, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the EU Commission. Two former UN Secretaries General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, and Kofi Annan and former Deputy Secretary-General, Asha-Rose Migiro are expected to attend as well as all former OAU Secretaries-General and AU Commission Chairpersons.

Other guests include representatives of the African Regional Economic Communities, the South African Development Community, IGAD, EAC/COMESA, CENSAD/ECCAS, ECOWAS and AMU. The list of invitees focuses on personalities who contributed to Pan-Africanism, the African Renaissance and to Africa’s Liberation Struggle.

Numerous events, conferences and exhibitions are being held this week in Addis Ababa as part of the Anniversary Celebrations. They include: the African Rock Art Exhibition and Colloquium; African and Diaspora Traditional and Contemporary Art and Photography; Africa Trade Exhibition; Pan-African Business Conference; a Youth Parade; Symposiums on Women and Child Rights in Africa, among others.

Other related meetings during the week include the Meeting of the Ad Hoc Ministerial Meeting on the Scale of Assessment; the Meeting of the Committee of Ten on UN Reforms; and working breakfasts for NEPAD’s Heads of State and Government and the ARPM.

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Source: ERTA – May 22, 2013. Originally titled “Week of Celebration of 50th AU Golden Anniversary”.