Today, the 25th May 2020, we commemorate the creation of the Organisation of African Unity on 25th May 1963, today the African Union (AU).

SAAM is an unprecedented and unique project that brings together 17 African countries and 8 European countries. Today all the partnership wants to celebrate this special day for more than half of the members of our partnership by sharing some facts about the African Union:

1. The Africa Day was formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day.
2. The organisation was transformed into the African Union on 9th July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, but the holiday continues to be celebrated on 25 May, when the Organisation of African Unity was created on 1963.
3. Between 1958 and 1963, 17 African countries were liberated by European colonies and in 1963 they decided to come together and mark their liberation by uniting the countries as the OAU.
4. In 2012 former Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma became the first female chair of the AU’s administrative arm.
5. For a number of Africans on the continent and part of the diaspora, Africa Day is a day when many different cultures of people from all African backgrounds come together to celebrate the diversity of Africa.

Happy Africa Day to all Africans around the world! #movingtogether

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union, under the Africa-EU partnership. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union