Third Aswan Forum to kick off next week

The third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development will take place on Tuesday 21 June under the patronage of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

This forum would host 900 representatives from 50 countries. Hosts will include ministers, senior officials, think tanks, the private sector, and non-governmental organisations.

“The two-day event will be run under the theme ‘Africa in an Era of Cascading Risks and Climate Vulnerability: Pathways for a Peaceful, Resilient, and Sustainable Continent,”  Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs Hamdy Loza said in a press meeting on Monday.

Loza highlighted that the forum will provide a set of speeches from President al-Sisi, chairman of the African Union, and the president of the African Commission.

Moreover, Aswan Forum will boost the ramifications of climate change on targeting peace and security in Africa ahead of Egypt’s hosting of the UN Conference COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh this November.

Ahmed Abdel-Latif, director of the Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), said that the event is expected to solve a number of issues over 15 sessions. Those sessions will include improving cooperation to combat terrorism, overcoming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will address ways of reaching food security, motivating African women, building national institutions, and the role of African youths in getting sustainable peace and development in the face of climate change, he stated.

He explained that Aswan Forum’s outcomes are submitted and carried out after each edition by defining research activities to translate said outcomes into action.

In March 2021, the second edition of the Aswan Forum was held under the theme ‘Shaping Africa’s New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better.’  It highlighted the challenges facing Africa, noting that coronavirus pandemic.

The first edition took place in December 2019 in Aswan.