Assembly/AU/Dec.561(XXIV) Page 1 DECISION ON THE REPORT OF ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF FINANCING THE AFRICAN UNION Doc. Assembly/AU/6(XXIV) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report and EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION for the efforts put in by the Conference of the AU Ministers of Economy and Finance (CAMEF), the Ministerial Working Group of the CAMEF and the Commission working in close collaboration with the UNECA, towards the implementation of the pertinent decisions of the Assembly on the issue; in this regard, AGREES on the urgent need to find a solution to this long-standing issue; 2. STRESSES the critical need to ensure that the AU becomes financially autonomous; 3. URGES all Member States that have not yet done so, to honour as soon as possible their contributions and arrears to the Union; 4. REAFFIRMS the principle of Alternative Sources of Financing the Union by its Member States, provided that Member States are given the flexibility of its implementation, in accordance with their national imperatives, laws and regulations and constitutional provisions as appropriate; 5. REQUESTS the Ad-hoc Ministerial Committee on the Scale of Assessment to pursue consultations in an open-ended manner, with a view to proposing modalities for the implementation of the Alternative Sources of Financing the Union by Member States with particular emphasis on: i) The determination of an appropriate scale of assessment for contribution so that the AU can take charge of its budget in line with the following principles: a) Member States to fund the operational budget at 100%; b) Member States to fund the programme budget at 75%; c) Member States to fund the Peace support operations budget at 25%. ii) Proposing a non-exhaustive and non-binding basket of options, at national, regional and continental levels, by building on the reports of H.E. President Obasanjo and the ministerial Working Group of the CAMEF from which Member States may choose from, in view of the implementation of the Alternative Sources of Financing the African Union, on the understanding that Member States preserve their sovereign rights of adding new options/measures deemed convenient to them; and