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The work of finalising the ATAF Agreement and its Rules and Procedures has made significant progress since the 1st Council Meeting in April 2010. As a momentous step for the purposes of establishing ATAF as a legal entity and an international organisation, at its 2nd Meeting in Tunis during November 2010, the ATAF Council adopted, by majority, the final texts of the ATAF Agreement & the corresponding Rules & Procedures, through the signing of a Resolution indicating their acceptance of the final texts. The nine signatories were Botswana, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The finalisation of the ATAF founding documents now enables all member countries to proceed with their respective domestic legal processes for the approval / adoption of the ATAF Agreement.
Article 23 (1) and (2) of the ATAF Agreement state that once the fifth (5th) instrument of ratification has been deposited with the Secretariat, the Agreement shall enter into force thirty (30) calendar days thereafter, thereby giving the organisation its legal personality and formally establishing ATAF as an international organisation. ATAF will be in a position to conclude a Host Country Agreement with the Government of the Republic of South Africa, open a bank account, acquire office premises and related equipment, and appoint permanent staff.
The Secretariat is optimistic that it may take up to June 2012 for five countries to adopt / approve the ATAF Agreement.
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