Memorandum of understanding signed at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand

The Pan-African Parliament President Roger Nkodo Dang and Cosmas Chanda, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative to the African Union, signed a memorandum of understanding at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand on 13 May, to improve the rights of refugees and displaced persons.

During the signing of the agreement, Marina Sharpe, the senior legal officer of the UNHCR representation to the AU, expressed her belief that the

Pan-African Parliament has a huge role to play in conflict prevention which is one of the biggest issues in Africa.

The memorandum of understanding will see the two organisations work hand in hand trying to protect the rights of refugees and stateless persons thereby helping them restore their dignity and rebuild their lives.

The agreement was a part of a day-long session with various stakeholders such as representatives from the AU, UNHCR, Red Cross, regional economic communities and elevated parliamentarians’ renewed efforts to contribute towards developing the lives of refugees and internally displaced persons in Africa.

In an interview about the presentations, Stars Mathe of the Nkayi South Constituency of Zimbabwe and a member of parliament said the presentations were very touching.

“After being in the session, I believe Africa has a job to do and we have to make sure that as Africans we come together and agree to a common rule that will be passed on to all African parliaments to help avoid the root causes of displacements in our countries in Africa.

“We should not be talking about displaced people and how they are suffering when we cannot address the root cause.

“For people to end up being refugees and displaced people it is because of political misunderstanding and opposing religious beliefs – there is our failure as Africa to handle disputes which most of the time erupts the issues.”

Related article:

AU together with UNHCR discuss refugee problem in Africa