Egypt will host the first Aswan Forum Sustainable Peace, Security and Development in Africa starting on Wednesday.
Under the auspices of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the two-day forum is focused on post-conflict reconstruction and sustainable development in Africa.
World leaders as well as representatives of international and regional organisations will participate in 13 key sessions over the two days.
Among the distinguished guests participating in the forum are Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, according to the Canadian foreign ministry.
Canada is already among the strategic partners of the forum, along with the UK, Japan, Sweden and the United Nations Development Programme.
Day 1 agenda
El-Sisi will inaugurate the forum with a keynote speech, followed by the first session titled “The Africa We Want: Sustaining Peace, Security & Development” focusing on Africa’s economic potential.
The second session, titled “Silencing the Guns in Africa: Owning the Prevention Agenda” will focus on how the prevention agenda must be integrated into national development policies and efforts, with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the core of this approach.
The third session will be titled “Twenty-One Strategies Later: Why is Sustainable Peace and Development in the Sahel Still Elusive?” focusing on the main challenges facing the Sahel region.
Other sessions on the first day will look at a regional cooperation framework for peace, security, and development in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and the problem of extremism and moving away from terrorism.
Day 2 agenda
The second day of the forum will include sessions on advancing African women’s contribution to peace, security and development, a roundtable on supporting the transition process in Sudan, and a session on forced displacement and mixed migration in Africa.
The Aswan forum was announced by the president in February this year during an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
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