Assembly/AU/Dec.592(XXVI) Page 1 DECISION ON GOVERNANCE, CONSTITUTIONALISM AND ELECTIONS IN AFRICA Doc. Assembly/AU/9(XXVI) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Commission on Governance, Constitutionalism and Elections in Africa and the recommendations contained therein; 2. RECALLS the previous decisions of the Assembly adopting the Common African Position on Post-2015 Development Agenda and Agenda 2063 both of which commit Member States to creating democratic developmental states anchored on participatory democratic governance, sustainable peace, and political stability on the continent; 3. CALLS UPON Member States to : i) Accelerate the signing, ratification and domestication as well as implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) in order to entrench a culture of democracy, constitutionalism and peace in the respective countries; ii) Also accelerate the signing, ratification, domestication and implementation of the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development adopted in 2014; iii) Prioritize the continued operationalization of the AU High Council of Local Authorities (AU-HCLA); iv) In collaboration with the Commission, the development and adoption of the Common African Position on Habitat III. The AU-STC No. 8, its subcommittees, and other related bodies, such as the High Council of Local Authorities and the Habitat III Bureau, will be important institutions for future action in areas of effective local and urban governance and should be fully operationalized and empowered to work within their respective domains; v) Make deliberate efforts to ensure professionalization and depoliticisation of the security establishment by building constructive civil-military relations. This should entail ensuring accountability of the security establishment through the relevant portfolio committee of parliament; vi) Address the growing trend of the formation and use of youth/militia arms of political parties by taking measures to discourage this trend as it undermines democratisation and peace-building as well as immediate steps to