FM to participate meetings of AU Summit in Ethiopia

CAIRO - 28 June 2017: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will head Thursday evening to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to take part in the preparatory meetings of the 29th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) Summit.

The 34th ordinary session of the permanent representatives' committee for the AU member countries will be held during 27-29 June followed by the 31st ordinary session of the executive council at the level of foreign ministers during June 30 and July 1.

The 29th ordinary session of the AU Summit will be held during July 3-4.

The summit will be held under the motto of "Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth" which is the rubric of the AU during 2017, said the Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid on Wednesday.

The summit will include holding a session for discussing the national experiences of the member countries in the field of empowering the youth and preparing them for the future.

This subject has been chosen in light of its importance for the African countries which most of its population are youths besides the need to benefit from the youth and overcoming challenges in this regard, Abu Zeid reiterated.

The summit will take up a number of important issues including the report of the Rwandan president pertaining to implementing the resolutions of Addis Ababa Summit (January 2017) on the reform of the AU so as to enable it to overcome the current challenges.

The spokesman further underlined that Shoukry will hold bilateral meetings with his African counterparts on the sidelines of the executive council meetings for coordination pertaining to a number of regional and international files.