The event is expected to host 900 representatives from 50 countries, including ministers, senior officials, think tanks, the private sector, and NGOs.

In a press meeting on Monday, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs Hamdy Loza said the two-day event will be run under the theme ‘Africa in an Era of Cascading Risks and Climate Vulnerability: Pathways for a Peaceful, Resilient, and Sustainable Continent’

The forum will kick off with a set of speeches from President El-Sisi, the chairperson of the African Union, and the president of the African Commission, Loza added.

Furthermore, the forum will shed light on the ramifications of climate change on achieving peace and security in Africa ahead of Egypt’s hosting of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.

The event is expected to tackle a number of issues over 15 sessions, including enhancing cooperation to combat terrorism, overcoming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmed Abdel-Latif, the director of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), said.

It will also discuss means of achieving food security, empowering African women, building national institutions, and the role of African youths in achieving sustainable peace and development in the face of climate change, he added.

He explained that the forum’s outcomes are submitted and implemented after each edition by defining research activities to translate said outcomes into action.

The second edition of the Aswan Forum was held virtually in March 2021 under the theme ‘Shaping Africa’s New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better.’  It shed light on challenges facing Africa, notably the coronavirus pandemic.

The first edition was held in December 2019 in Aswan.