On 11 July 2000, in Lomé, African heads of state sign the Constitutive Act of the African Union — the treaty replacing the Organisation of African Unity with a stronger political and institutional union.

The Act sets goals of peace, security, development, human rights and a right to intervene in grave circumstances (genocide, crimes against humanity), a break from the OAU’s absolute non-interference.

Signed at the OAU Lomé summit, it enters into force on 26 May 2001; the AU is formally launched in Durban in 2002.

Institutions (Assembly, Commission, Peace and Security Council) find their legal basis in this constitutive act.

For African integration, 11 July 2000 marks the legal birth of the African Union.

The official text is published by the African Union.

The AU Constitutive Act of 11 July 2000 remains the founding charter of the African Union.

Image: AU / Africa; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Constitutive Act of the African Union. Treaty text: Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU).