Football legends Patrick Mboma and Nkwankwo Kanu to launch six month Play for the Union campaign, February 6, Librevile, Gabon

Two of Africas all-time best footballers Patrick Mboma and Nkwankwo Kanu have accepted to act as State of the Union coalition Ambassadors. With Coalition Governing Team member Bruno Dindelo, the two will launch a continental wide search for 22 men and women to form two football teams. The two teams will receive personal coaching, be invited to share their views on continental integration and participate in a friendly Unity football match during the July AU Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Coalition meets to build capacity and plan in Nairobi, February 1-4

All members of the coalition are meeting in Nairobi,Kenya to plan the five year campaign to urge Governments to plan and implement the 14 essential policy standards and legal instruments. Various resource persons have been invited to share tips and strategies in the areas of digital campaigning, community mobilisation, building of CSO platforms and policy influencing research. Boosted by recent funding by SIDA Sweden and DFID United Kingdom. The coalition will discuss plans for transforming the current situation.

On behalf of the pan African coalition State of the Union Africa, Bruno Dindelo, in the presence of Ambassadors, Commission staff and CSO leaders, will hand over the 5 year programme document to H.E. Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha and seek a Memorandum of Partnership with the Commission

State of the Union in Addis for January AU Summit, January 26-30

Bruno Dindelo, coalition governing team member and Michael Orwa, interim campaign coordinator in Addis for the January 2012 AU Summit. They will meet with the AU Commission, Ambassadors and CSOs to press Governments to ratify and implement AU Standards and Treaties.

The African Union will convene regional meetings in order to popularize and create awareness, and promote the speedy signature; ratification and domestication of the AU Convention for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. The first round of consultations will take place in Lilongwe, Malawi for the SADC region from 17 to 18 March 2011. The consultative meeting will be attended by the SADC Inter-Parliamentary Forum, the Pan-African Parliament, legal experts from AU Member States and experts in the field of forced displacement; the SADC secretariat, development partners, UN agencies and partners involved in the humanitarian realm, civil society and the Diaspora.

The Regional Consultative Meeting will roll-out the implementation of the Plan of Action, review the steps undertaken by Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to implement the Plan of Action, agree on regional and national strategies and sequence how activities under the Plan of Action can fit in their own plans.