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The African Union has to act in order to put an end to armed conflicts that undermine the continent, to fight against the devastation caused by AIDS and other contagious diseases, to promote sustainable development of its member states.

Among the friends of Union, there is great diversity of sentiment and of policy in regard to slavery and the African race among us.

In short, we have, among African countries, a duty of solidarity.

It is my firm belief that action on the issues that matter for Africa must emerge from within Africa itself.

It is important to nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa.

It is very much the theme of our President, President Thabo Mbeki, whose passion is for Africa to work together, and for Africans to get up and do things for us. We are trying as women to do things for ourselves.

It would be good for us Africans to accept ourselves as we are and recapture some of the positive aspects of our culture.

And I think that Africa is making progress that the world needs to recognize and assist the continent to continue on that path.

African history is filled with experiences of people shooting their way to power and then splintering into factions, like in Somalia and Liberia.

You see, Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice. It makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties. It doubts our concern. It questions our commitment. Because there is no way we can look at what's happening in Africa, and if we're honest, conclude that it would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else.