Whilst the rest of the world has the luxury to choose to stay where they are or move East, West, South or North, Africa has neither the time nor the choice: we must move in one direction —and that is forward and upwards! Fifteen years ago, as the world welcomed the new millennium, Africa was referred to as the 21st’s Century’s development challenge at best and a hopeless continent at worst. As Africans, we chose to see the start of the millennium as the start of the African century.

We should however be aware of the new global threats such as terrorism, insecurity and climate change that also threaten the African Century. On the one side of our continent we have a drought in the Sahel, whereas in the eastern side we have floods in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

Terrorism, in particular the brutality of Boko Haram against our people, the senseless killings, the destruction of property, the enslavement and sale of our people, our girls kidnapped and married and the terrorization of villages are a threat to our collective safety, security and development. This, along with the senseless killings of our people, has now spread beyond Nigeria to Cameroon, Chad and Niger and requires a response that is collective, effective and decisive to achieve the desired results.

As we discuss the situations in Somalia, Libya, Mali, South Sudan and DRC, we should remind ourselves that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the OAU, we vowed that we shall not bequeathed war and violence to the next generation of Africans. We also need a coordinated and collective responses to other threats such as modern slavery in the guise of human trafficking; poaching, illegal logging and fishing, and the destruction and plunder of African natural resources.

It is imperative that we deny space to those who are bent on destroying the lives and prospects of Africans. This will require concerted efforts to unite our people. The core of our solution rests in our ability to speedily champion tolerant, accountable, democratic and inclusive political cultures, and inclusive social and economic development.

Despite these challenges, and even as downward gale-force winds continue to buffet the world, Africa has been climbing, a step at a time, up the steep cliff towards peace, prosperity and the restoration of the dignity of our people.

It was this resolve to be in charge of our destiny, which informed our decision in the 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration to develop Agenda 2063 “through a people-driven process for the realization of our vision for an integrated, people-centred, prosperous Africa at peace with itself.” We are confident that the aspirations in Agenda 2063 reflects the voices of the African people and her Diaspora, united in diversity, young and old, men and women, from all walks of life.

2015 is also 60 years since the 1955 Bandung Asian-African conference, a turning point of world history when for the first time representatives of the former colonized nations united and proposed alternatives to a world order dominated by superpowers. Sixty years on, the issues that served before Bandung - of peaceful coexistence amongst nations, the struggle for development and a just world order - are still relevant today, albeit in a changed world, with its threats of extremism and intolerance, of disease, inequality between and within nations, feminization of poverty, gender-based violence and climate change. But, it is also a world of opportunities with technological advances that can help leapfrog development, and changes in the economic landscape of the world. It is this changing world - with threats and opportunities - that Africa navigates as it finalizes its vision for the next fifty years.

Our generations of Africans, young and old, men and women, face the challenge to fulfill the mission we set ourselves. I dare say, we are the generations that will eradicate poverty, disease and hunger, as we set out to do in our Common African Position on post-2015 development. We are the generation that shall manage diversity and silence the guns.Agenda 2063 is therefore a call to action – to governments, civil society, academics and private sector; continental and regional bodies, the Diaspora, Africans of all ages, men and women alike.Our aspirations and the concrete programmes in Agenda 2063 are very clear: to diversify our economies and industrialise; to have a skills and entrepreneurial revolution, unleashing the creativity and energy of our young people, and to effect an agricultural and agro-processing transformation, so we can feed ourselves and contribute to feeding the world.

We shall connect Africa through aviation, railways, highways, ICT, energy and the seas. At Malabo, you gave us the mandate to explore Agenda 2063 flagship projects. We are therefore tackling the African infrastructure backlog, utilizing state of the art technology to leapfrog development and through smarter partnerships.

We discussed the importance of energy during the US-Africa Leadership Summit in August last year; the EU-Africa Summit agreed to strengthen co-operation on human development; and we have just concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with China on rail, highways, aviation, and industrialization.

We want to make a special appeal on aviation: that we need to move decisively towards the creation of a single African aviation market, as envisaged by the Yamoussoukro Declaration. It not only makes economic sense, but it is also a key driver towards continental integration. We call on countries to be bold, and be prepared to take the first step.

The large number of elections in the coming year is an opportunity to present our people and countries with a vision for a different tomorrow. We must continue to conduct our elections peacefully, freely and fairly, with respect for the will of the people.

We must invest in our people - their health and education, access to water and sanitation - and build resilience and public health systems in order to defeat diseases like Ebola, as well as malaria and HIV.We once again thank the health workers of the AU-ASEOWA mission, its leader General Julius Oketta, and the governments and peoples of the countries who sent them to help our brothers and sisters in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. We must continue to support them, until these countries are Ebola free.

We thank the African private sector for their partnership with us in the fight against Ebola, and particularly the mobile network operators, who through the continental SMS campaign enables Africans to contribute. Over thirty countries have joined the SMS campaign, and we invite those that have not yet done so to join. We must continue to mobilise our people to contribute to the campaign and to keeping health workers on the ground, until the countries are officially Ebola free. We must also call for the cancellation of their debts, as they prepare for their social and economic recovery.
 
During the 50th Anniversary Summit, on recommendation from President Obasanjo and his high level panel on alternative sources of funding, the Assembly decided to establish the African Union Foundation.

It is befitting that the year we adopt Agenda 2063, is also the Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development. During 2015, we shall take our continental programme of gender equality and women’s empowerment to a higher level: by ensuring that women are at the table in conflict resolution and peace building; by increasing the representation of women in public life; through the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of women; and by modernizing agriculture, and addressing women’s access to land, technology, markets, infrastructure, and capital.

Agenda 2063 commits to empower young people, as innovators, citizens and entrepreneurs. I am pleased to announce that the Pan African Parliament will cohost the 2014 Annual AU Intergenerational dialogue, which we started during the 50th Anniversary.

In November last year, I was very proud to attend the graduation of the first group of Masters students at the Pan African University Institute for Science and Technology in Nairobi, Kenya. These graduates are an example of what our young people are capable of, if given an opportunity. In their two years at the PAU, they had a near 100% pass rate, published research articles in journals, and one of them registered a patent.They, and thousands of young innovators and entrepreneurs, are an embodiment of what we can achieve if we invest and give Africa’s young men and women the opportunity to help shape the destiny of our continent.

During the Year of Women, we must pay special attention to the girl child, making sure that they are all in and remain in school, that we end child marriages and female genital mutilation, teenage parenthood and harness the potential of both boys and girls.

In conclusion, as we move towards implementation of Agenda 2063, we must adopt collective and cooperative approaches to the threats of peace and security. Let us be relentless about African economic development and strengthen partnerships with the African private sector. I am confident that working together, we shall create a peaceful, integrated, people-centered and prosperous Africa.

By HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
Chairperson of the African Union Commission.