On the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA74) in New York, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated Friday in a meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) at the ministerial level.
The meeting was under the title of “The Intersection between Security, Peace, and Development: Toward Collective Participation.”
The UNGA74 opened on 17 September 2019. The first day of the high-level General Debate was Tuesday, 24 September 2019.
This year’s UNGA74 theme was “Galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”.
“Shoukry delivered a statement during the meeting, emphasizing the connection between achieving development goals and establishing security and stability in Africa,” said Official Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Spokesperson Counselor Ahmed Hafez.
Hafez added that, “This requires concerted international and regional efforts through the existing partnerships between various international and regional organizations, at the forefront of which are the current partnerships between the African Union, the United Nations, the AU’s Peace and Security Council, the UN Security Council, and the Peace-building Commission.”
The MFA spokesperson revealed that Shoukry noted that Egypt is currently preparing to launch “Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development” on December 11 and 12, 2019.
Egypt aims the Forum to be a regular platform for dialogue and engagement between leaders, decision-makers, and experts from all African countries, as well as, from outside, according to Hafez.
“The Forum aims to support efforts to establish peace, stability, and development in Africa, in addition to exploring conceptual frameworks of relation and implementing existing frameworks in an African context,” he noted.
Hafez concluded by mentioning that the foreign minister, also, emphasized the importance of fortifying states emerging from conflicts against the risks of relapsing back to chaos by investing in the benefits of peace.
“The current intensified efforts aim to develop African mechanisms for post-conflict reconstruction and development, as well as, reviving the related African policy by the African Union Center for Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development (AUC-PCRD), which Egypt, in cooperation with the AU, is engaged in completing its establishment and launching it in Cairo in the few months ahead.”
