March 31, 2022
The Economic, Social, and Cultural Council of the African Union \(ECOSOCC\) was established under the provision of Articles 5 and 22 of the AU Constitutive Act\. Its Statutes, adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2004, define it as an advisory organ composed of different social and professional groups of AU Member States\.
Under Article 4 of the ECOSOCC Statutes, ECOSOCC is composed of 154 Civil Society Organization \(CSOs\): two \(2\) CSOs from each Member State; ten \(10\) CSOs operating at regional level and eight \(8\) at continental level, twenty \(20\) CSOs from the African Diaspora, as defined by the Executive Council and covering the continents of the world; and six \(6\) CSOs, in ex\-officio capacity, nominated by the AU Commission and based on special considerations, in consultation with Member States\. Article 4 \(2\) provides that the elections for members of ECOSOCC at Member State, regional, continental and Diaspora levels shall ensure fifty percent \(50%\) gender equality provided that fifty percent \(50 %\) of the representatives shall consist of youth between the ages of 18 and 35\. Members are elected for a term of four \(4\) years and may be re\-elected only once\.
Since its inception, the organ have had three successful General Assembly terms and the tenure of the current Third General Assembly will come to an end in December, 2022\.
The Credentials Committee Meeting held in Chisamba, Zambia from 21\-23 March , 2022 directed the ECOSOCC Secretariat to open the application process for elections into the 4th Permanent General Assembly from 01st April to 30th June, 2022\.
In order to allow for greater representation of CSOs from the fifty five \(55\) Member States of the Union and the five \(5\) Regions of Africa, the ECOSOCC is encouraging the civil society community including but not limited to social groups, professional groups, non\-governmental organizations, community based organizations, voluntary organizations and cultural organizations to apply for ECOSOCC membership by filling the attached application form and provide all relevant supporting documents as indicated on the application form\.
Applications will be screened by the ECOSOCC Credentials Committee followed by the AUC Interdepartmental Committee for Verification and Appraisal of Eligibility of candidates and elections will be conducted for qualified candidates in December 2022\.
The Application Form and additional information about the ECOSOCC Elections \( including the Statues and Code of Compliance\) are available in all the AU working languages at https://www\.auecosocc\.org/elections
The applicants should refer to the application form and ECOSOCC Statutes in order to submit a successful application\.
Completed application forms with all relevant documents should be sent to the ECOSOCC Secretariat by electronic mail at elections\.ecosocc@africa\-union\.org before/or on 30 JUNE 2022 \.