ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the vital question that is whether the political organs of the African Union have a role to play in the realisation of the right to development (RTD). This chapter explores the extent to which the continental governance institutions can ensure realisation of RTD. The African Union (AU) institutions that are significant for human rights achievement on the continent are: the AU Assembly, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee, the Peace and Security Council, the Pan-African Parliament, New Partnership for Africa's Development and African Peer Review Mechanism. An important turning point in the protection of human rights in Africa was the adoption of the AU constitutive Act, which gives special attention to human rights by stating the AU objectives to 'promote and protect human and peoples' rights according to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments'. The paramountcy of the AU Assembly provides a huge avenue to foster the RTD.
