Any observer of the changes occurring in Africa knows that the continent stands on the edge of a new era. The leaders are doing a great deal in order to provide their people with security and ensure progress and development. Despite some outside interference, Africa has had some relative successes.

With the aim of finding a single voice to express the hopes and ambitions of the African people, a decision has been taken to set up an African Parliament that will encourage cooperation, peace and stability between the African countries.

Many Africans have expressed the hope that the Parliament will be an important political transition and a legislative body able to correct many conditions that divide the people of the continent.

The aims of the Parliament are:

• To consolidate democracy and human rights principles in Africa.

• To promote political goals that ultimately lead to the integration of the continent and create a sense of a common destiny between the people as well as facilitating cooperation between different societies and their governments.

Five members from each country, regardless of its population, will represent their country in the Parliament. Out of the five, at least one must be female, and it is desirable that the members represent the various political movements within each country.

A primary objective of the Parliament is to correct the laws and political and sectarian circumstances so that peace, security and stability between nations will become a reality.

Twenty-four African countries have requested that Egypt host the first meeting of the Parliament next January in the hope that Egypt, with its own parliamentary history, will become its permanent headquarters.

The unanimous agreement by Africans to form an African Parliament and lay the foundations to guarantee its success is based on the necessity of protecting the continent from possible outside interference.

It is important to mention that a powerful and politically, socially and economically progressive Africa will be of great benefit to the global market, whereas an unstable continent is a weak and limited market with a negative effect on the global economy.

The task is an arduous and difficult one, but hope remains that the political leadership has only its people’s interests at heart.