Organization of African Unity and Conflict Management in Africa: 1963-1999

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate and analyze the role the Organization of African Unity (OAU) played in resolving Africa's internal conflict since its inception and up to 1999 and to assess its performance in the field of conflict resolution with special reference to eradication of colonialism, racial discrimination, border conflicts and internal civil wars. The researcher tried to answer the following questions: To what extent the OAU was involved in Africa's internal conflicts? Why the OAU had been criticized for its limited role in managing and resolving conflicts in Africa? What were the reasons that constrained its role to achieve its objectives? The research addressed the theoretical framework of conflict and regional organization concepts respectively; reflected the historical emergence of the OAU and its organizational structures; examined the sources and forms of Africa's internal conflicts and its two internal mechanisms for resolving conflicts and analyzed its initiatives towards these conflicts and concluded by assessment of the OAU achievements and failure. The main findings of this research were, in spite of the success that the OAU had achieved in the integration function as a regional organization; it had been constrained by a number of factors that affected its capacity performance to achieve its objectives. These factors were the political atmosphere under which the OAU was working, its Charter provisions, limited nature of its institutions for resolving conflicts, the absence of political will among the Member States, influence of external powers in intensifying conflicts in Africa and most important the weakness of the post-colonial African states . Further more, the research highlighted the recent developments concerning the transition of the OAU to the African Union (AU) to facilitate the research to be undertaken in the future