African leaders are meeting in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa for the next two days as they mark 50 years of the African Union.
The 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of heads of state opened on Sunday with the leaders recognizing the need to do more address Africa’s pressing issues.
The heads of state summit however is prioritising the task of silencing the guns, a policy that intends ending “wars in Africa by 2020”.
For failing to meet this deadline to silence the guns, the African leaders will be finding out why the continent is struggling to end all forms of wars.
There are still conflicts in countries like Libya, Mozambique and South Sudan, although some progress has been made in Central African Republic and Sudan.
[Live] Follow the Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the @_AfricanUnion now @ https://t.co/7xANJnVaHS
33rd #AUSummit #SilencingTheGuns— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) February 9, 2020
Agenda 2063
The AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat prior to Sunday’s opening session of the heads of state meeting said the “missed deadline” to silence the guns “reveals the complexity of the security situation in Africa.”
At its meeting in Niamey, Niger in July 2019, ministers of the African Union (AU) Executive Council decided that the AU theme of the year 2020 would be “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”.
According to the African Union, Agenda 2063 is “Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is assuming the role as AU chair from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said that ending conflicts on the continent would be his priority.
The South African leader also said “Our continent faces enormous problems and challenges, economic challenges, poverty and unemployment.
We have to face that and make sure that agenda 2063 becomes a reality for majority of our people.”
Source: Africafeeds.com
