Cairo (Union)
Yesterday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called on African countries to adopt a comprehensive vision to confront the challenges of peace, security and development, at the opening of the fourth edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, which is being held under the title “Africa in a Changing World: Reimagining Global Governance for Peace and Development.”
Shoukry said that the forum, which is held in Cairo under the patronage of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, has established itself since its launch in 2019, and throughout its successive editions, as a leading forum that addresses the challenges facing the African continent.
He added that the forum contributes to reaching common visions on ways to address these challenges, especially through supporting efforts to prevent conflicts, build peace, and strengthen the relationship between sustainable peace and development, in addition to enhancing the value of partnerships based on several principles, most notably respect for national ownership, sovereignty, and mutual benefit.
Shoukry pointed out that the forum is being held this year at a critical time when the continent, and indeed the entire world, is witnessing grave challenges and an unprecedented escalation of wars, conflicts and large-scale humanitarian crises, and that it will witness the launch of initiatives that enhance African ownership of peace and security efforts, including the launch of a new African network to prevent extremism leading to terrorism.
In this regard, Shoukry announced the “Aswan Forum for Reconstruction and Development Award,” which will be presented for the first time to one of the promising African models, in appreciation of its efforts in building peace on the African continent.
The opening session was attended by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a number of African ministers, high-level delegations of African Union and United Nations officials, as well as representatives of the most important regional and international organizations concerned with peace and security issues.
The two-day forum will discuss a number of African priorities, including ways to achieve peace and security in a changing world, adopting integrated solutions within the framework of supporting the relationship between peace, security and development, preventing conflicts by addressing their root causes, and highlighting the role of states in building resilient institutions to achieve sustainable peace in the Sahel and Horn of Africa regions.
It also discusses the importance of education for peacebuilding, considering education as the theme of the current year in the African Union, in addition to the centrality of the role of youth and women in peace and security efforts, enhancing post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts, and examining the future of partnerships with the continent, in addition to presenting the African perspective on the climate, peace and security agenda.
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