Sisi: Aswan Forum helped provide solutions to African challenges

CAIRO – 13 December 2019: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Thursday said the first Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development has contributed to provide new solutions and visions for the African challenges, local media reported.

As the president has concluded the two-day Aswan Forum, which is held for the first time, to open new channels toward achieving peace and sustainable development in the continent, he affirmed that the African states have the required wisdom and political will to overcome their challenges during two days of intensive work.

The president announced that the Aswan Forum would be held annually to discuss all important African issues.

The sessions of the forum has discussed the most important issues of peace, security and sustainable development, Sisi said, adding they managed to provide a precise description and analysis of the challenges facing the African continent and impede the process of reconstruction, development and peace.

One of the most important issues discussed during the forum was the need to prevent the conflicts in the area, preserve peace, build peace, end the course of extremism leading to terrorism, Sisi said. He also highlighted the issues of women empowerment, displacement, and the establishment of state institutions through a comprehensive perspective for the relation between peace and sustainable development.

Sisi has earlier met with many African leaders during the Aswan Forum, including Senegal’s President Macky Sall, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou, President of Comoros Azali Assoumani, and President Idriss Déby of Chad.

Terrorism

Sisi has focused on the issue of facing terrorism in the Sahel region while holding talks with the African presidents. He highlighted Egypt’s war against terrorism including the fight in Sinai as well as along the western borders with Libya, and affirmed the need to reach a “peaceful” political solution to the Libyan crisis.

Sisi also affirmed the need for the African nations to respond collectively against terrorism.

Women empowerment

Attending a session dubbed "To enhance the role of African women to achieve peace, security and development," Sisi has hailed the role played by the Egyptian women, who he said “tasked themselves” to take part in the June 30 revolution in 2013, which ousted former President Mohamed Morsi, also leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.


During his speech, he said millions of Egyptian women took to streets during the June 30 revolution to protect the Egyptian identity.

Although the regime at the time came to power through general elections in 2012, the Egyptian women, after a year, found that their way of ruling would ruin the Egyptian state, Sisi said.

He added that over 30 million people took to streets in the June 30 revolution, affirming that he appreciates and respects the role of the Egyptian women among those masses.

On July 24 the same year, Sisi asked Egyptians to show up in the streets to give him the authorization to fight terrorism. Sisi, during the session, said Egyptian women escorted their children that day and filled streets, among 35 million Egyptian citizens to affirm support to Sisi, then defense minister, to confront possible violence.

Sisi also praised the Egyptian women’s performance when assuming an administrative work or a government position, saying that their performance is always excellent and is better than that of some men.

Sisi described women as less corrupt and more efficient when taking high-level posts, then said, “there is not any corruption.”