Introductory Note by the Secretary-General, H.E. Salim Ahmed Salim, at the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Dakar.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was present, and Dr Salim acknowledges this:
"I wish, on a happier note, to welcome President Yasser Arafat amongst us and to reiterate the unflinching support of the OAU for the struggle of the Palestinian people for their inalienable right of self-determination and independence."
Later, he says:
"In sum, Africa has to establish a strategic importance for itself in the world. To create a strategic importance for itself so as to become a player in world politics, our continent must address itself to the many burning issues which now undermine the capability of the continent to assert itself. The imperatives of ending Apartheid, of ensuring further democratization and managing transition, ending endemic conflicts and of bringing economic development must now form the core of the new agenda for the continent. It is an agenda which requires the total mobilization of all our resources including the active involvement of the women and youth of Africa. It is an agenda to create an Africa of the future which we must will to the coming generations - A free, united, democratic and prosperous Africa."
