CAIRO - 27 June 2024: The fourth edition of the Aswan Forum for Peace and Development to be held on July 2-3 will focus on the topics of peace building, youth’s role in peace and development, and education which is the theme of the year at the African Union (AU).
Ambassador Ahmed Abdel Latif, the director-general of Cairo International Center for Conflict Résolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), stated Thursday that cooperation agreements would be signed between the CCCPA and a number of organizations such as the African Union Development Agency (AUDA)
The diplomat also noted that this edition had introduced the Aswan Forum Award for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development which can be earned by an African individual, organization, project or initiative.
Ambassador Abdel Latif stressed the salience of reinforcing peace and security in Africa noting that estimates projected that, by 2030, a large percentage of the poor would be living in hostile areas. According to World Bank data, 63 percent of the world’s poor will be living in 39 fragile states by 2030.
“Egypt always vies for peace in Africa and rejects the intervention in its countries’ internal affairs. Egypt is also eager for dealing with crises in humane methods,” Ambassador Ahmed Abou Zeid, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressed.
In a related context, the ambassador highlighted that Egypt itself hosted millions of the displaced from African and non-African Arab countries.
“The timing of the conference this year comes in light of very critical and unprecedented conditions, as well as challenges to the international law, Security Council, and African Peace and Security Council... We want to discuss the governance of the international peace and development system,” Ambassador Abou Zeid underscored.
The foreign ministry’s spokesperson equally urged that international funding institutions should reconsider their operation mechanism, funding mechanism, and size of funding to countries hosting large numbers of migrants.
The diplomat shed light on the timing of former editions. The first was held in 2019 during Egypt’s chairmanship of the AU. The second took place in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The third was in the following year where the world’s focus was on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on food and energy security. It was also in the same year Egypt hosted COP27.
The 2024 edition is running amid peace and security maintenance challenges, and existential challenges in Gaza Strip and Sudan, Ambassdor Abou Zeid showcased.
Due to the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine War, GDP growth fell from 4.1 percent in 2022 to 3.2 percent in 2023. Further, 19 out of 35 low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa were either in debt distress or at high risk of distress by the end of 2023.
Six of 12 least-peaceful countries globally were in Africa. Sahel is the most impacted region by terrorism accounting for almost half of deaths and 26 percent of attacks, according to a CCCPA statement.
More than 25 million people across Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad are experiencing deteriorating food security. Eighty-three percent of increasing internal displacements on the continent are happening in Sub-Saharan countries.
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