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AU Summit Expected to Focus on Ivory Coast, Sudan
allAfrica -- The 18th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) will hold in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 27 to 28 January 2011 under the banner of shared values. This decision was taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union to have a common understanding of the values that Member States of the continental organization share and which should guide their actions toward greater unity and an integrated Africa.The Ministers of Foreign Affairs or other ministers or authorities designated by the governments of Member States who form the Executive Council will review the draft Declaration on the Summit theme "Shared Values in Africa: for greater unity and integration" before it is sent to the AU Assembly...

Showing US leadership through innovation in foreign assistance
ONE -- If you caught the president’s State of the Union address a couple of nights ago, you’d know a big part of his vision for America was focused on innovation and competitiveness. “Our success in this new and changing world,” Obama said, “will require reform, responsibility, and innovation.” He presented a bold plan to create jobs and grow our economy through reformed education, more efficient government and investment in science and technology. It was an inspiring speech that called upon Americans to “do big things.” But this talk isn’t new. Throughout government, we’ve been seeing a lot of these principles put in practice by many agencies and programs, including those working on foreign assistance. The State Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have all put a premium on becoming more efficient, effective and transparent in their support for poor nations and are embracing innovative ideas to save money and make a bigger impact...

Global governance in a changing world
Huffington Post -- This year's World Economic Forum meeting in Davos is focusing on the challenges of global governance. Are international institutions capable of addressing today's problems in light of recent shifts in global power? What will these institutions look like when emerging powers such as Brazil, India and South Africa have a seat at the table? Recent elections to the United Nations Security Council give us a glimpse of the future. For the next year, Brazil, India and South Africa will all sit on the 15-member council, and all three aspire to become permanent members. How will they conduct themselves? Of particular interest to me, will they join efforts to defend human rights? There is reason for both hope and apprehension...

GTUC, India to establish African IT Institute in Ghana.
GNA -- Ghana Telecom University College in collaboration with the Indian government have concluded plans to establish an Indian-African Information Technology Institute to cater for member countries of the African Union. Apart from creating indepth knowledge in information Technology, the Institute would also delve into the areas of health and education as major components of accelerated development in the continent. Mr Harish Arora, Counsellor of the Indian High Commission, announced this when the Indian and College delegations called on Vice President John Dranmani Mahama at the Castle, Osu. Mr Arora said students of the Institute would be universally accepted on account of the intensity of the courses and appealed to the Government of Ghana to support them with adequate infrastructure to bring the project into fruition...