The African Union (AU) is Africa’s premier institution and principal guiding organization for the promotion of socio-economic integration of the Continent, which will lead to greater unity and solidarity between African countries and its people. As a continental organization, the AU focuses on the promotion of peace, security and stability as a prerequisite for the implementation of the development and integration agenda of the Union.

The spirit of Pan-African Unity arose from the hearts and minds of oppressed African people throughout the world. Among them, great leaders emerged: Henry Sylvester-Williams, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Kwame Nkrumah, and Haile Selassie to name a few. These men led those aspirations and founded the principles that gave life to the spirit of unity among African people throughout the world, Pan-Africanism. From their dreams and struggles first came the African Association which was later renamed the Pan-African Association. These were established around 1897 by Henry Sylvester-Williams, who also organized the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900.  Years later, we saw the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25^th, 1963.  On July 9^th 2002, the OAU transitioned to become known as the African Union (AU).  As of January 2017, all African states are now members of the African Union. The 55 members are grouped into five geographic regions (North, South, West, East and Central).

In 2003, the African Diaspora was constituted as the Sixth Region to encourage the participation of global African people.  Specifically, the African Diaspora consists of people of African origin living outside the Continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality, and who are willing to contribute to the development of the Continent and the building of the African Union.