Luanda — Angola and the African Union’s delegations met on Tuesday in Luanda to prepare for the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the continental organization on Strengthening Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
The summit, an initiative of Angola, is scheduled for August 29 and 30 in Luanda.
The work was led by the Director for Africa, the Middle East and Regional Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jorge Catarino Cardoso, and the Secretary of the African Union Commission, Dalitso Dikirani Bonongwe.
During the meeting, the delegations analyzed the main technical and organizational aspects of the preparatory mission of the African Union Commission to Luanda, with emphasis on the objectives of the visit, the draft work program and the measures necessary to ensure the hosting of the extraordinary session.
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The parties also proceeded to harmonize procedures and define operational priorities, with the purpose of ensuring compliance with the established schedule and creating the appropriate conditions for the event to take place.
The technical teams were distributed into working groups responsible for the different components of the organization, including protocol, logistics, administration, security, communication and support for participating delegations.
The extraordinary session will bring together the Heads of State and Government of the African Union to analyze the challenges of peace and security in Africa and to consider proposals aimed at strengthening African mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution.
Holding the extraordinary session in Luanda places the Angolan capital at the center of discussions on peace and security on the continent and opens space for a joint analysis of African mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution.
Main conflict hotspots in Africa
Africa continues to face different hotspots of political, military and social instability, with the conflicts in Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Sahel region among the situations that most concern continental institutions.
In Sudan, the civil war that began in April 2023, between the national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has caused one of the most serious humanitarian crises on the continent. The conflict has already forced more than 13 million people to abandon their areas of origin, while the violence remains particularly serious in Darfur.
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, instability is concentrated mainly in the east of the country, where clashes between government forces and rebel groups continue to affect the population and fuel tensions in the Great Lakes region.
The conflict in eastern DRC has deep roots and has lasted for decades, with factors linked to the control of valuable mineral resources, ethnic rivalries, and political disputes.
Another area of concern is the Sahel region, particularly in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda maintain attacks against populations and security forces and control some areas.
Instability in the Sahel has also taken on a political dimension in recent years, with military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, and a growing rejection of the influence of foreign powers.
The various conflicts have caused mass displacement, loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, and worsening of the social and economic conditions of the populations, in addition to creating new challenges for peace, security, and integration efforts on the continent.
It is in this context that the African Union seeks to strengthen its conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, with a view to improving its capacity to respond to crises and promoting political and sustainable solutions to the conflicts affecting different regions of the continent. ART/DAN/DOJ
