African Union Private sector That part of the economy which is both run for private profit and is not controlled by the state. It includes family owned businesses, private companies, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as the informal sector; Public Authorities Organizations in the public sector that takes on roles, such as the maintenance of public infrastructure. They often have broad powers to regulate or maintain public property. Public Commission A body, in the public sector, that regulates the rates and services of a utility or carries out an investigation into a defined matter on behalf of the government. Public finance The proper use and deployment of state revenues funding management Public sector Sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal. It includes State Owned Enterprises, Parastatals and Public Authorities or Commissions; Ratification Ratification defines the international act whereby a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties intended to show their consent by such an act. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usually accomplished by exchanging the requisite instruments, while in the case of multilateral treaties the usual procedure is for the depositary to collect the ratifications of all states, keeping all parties informed of the situation. The institution of ratification grants states the necessary time-frame to seek the required approval for the treaty on the domestic level and to enact the necessary legislation to give domestic effect to that treaty. Refugees Persons who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country or to return to it or who is obliged to seek refuge in a place outside his country of origin or nationality owing to external aggression or events disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country, xiii