29th African Union Summit Kicks Off

The 29th ordinary session of the African Union has kicked off at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

The two-day summit is said to focus on issues regarding safety and security on the continent as well as focusing on the African youth.

The official theme for this year’s summit is “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investment in the Youth”.

African leaders are expected to discuss various security concerns across several countries. There has been an exponential rise in terrorist attacks in many African countries, including Mali, South Sudan, Libya and Nigeria, where the latter is continually fighting against ISIS-linked terrorist group, Boko Haram.

These terrorist attacks, as well as the ongoing civil wars in several African countries, has put hundreds of thousands of people at risk and has resulted in various humanitarian crises including famine and disease.

Newly selected AU chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, of Chad, mentioned these issues in his opening address.

“The situation in South Sudan, Somalia, Libya, the Central African Republic, the tense relation between Djibouti and Eritrea, the difficulties in implementing the peace agreement in Mali where the jihadist terrorism is very active and political situation in some African countries such as the DRC, Burundi, Guinea Bissau are the major concern [for us],” he said.

Mahamat also criticised member states for their lack of solidarity shown to African countries struggling because of drought or famine and was frustrated with the lack of action taken by other African countries to help these in need.

“I cannot hide my deep frustration at the silence and inaction of Africans in the face of the terrible tragedy of famine in these regions…What happened to the African values of solidarity and fraternity? What happened to our civil society?” he said.