Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve relations with the African Union.

The UK is committed to a close relationship with the African Union (AU). The UK Office to the AU, based in Addis Abba, works closely with the AU across a range of country specific and thematic themes. The Deputy Prime Minister became the first non-African leader to meet the newly elected AU Commission Chairperson, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, on 17 February, just two days after his election success. The Foreign Secretary was delighted that the AU co-hosted the London-Sudan Conference with us on 15 April. We look forward to the next ministerial level UK-AU High-Level Dialogue in the autumn.