As part of the on-going preparatory process for the third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, to be held on 21-22 June, 2022, CCCPA--acting in its capacity as the Secretariat of the Forum--organized a virtual seminar titled “30 Years of the ‘Agenda for Peace’ (1992-2022): From the ‘Agenda for Peace’ to the ‘New Agenda for Peace’”. The seminar aimed to reflect on the emerging multidimensional challenges and cascading risks to peace, security, and development in Africa, and stimulate a forward-looking discussion on strengthening international efforts for conflict prevention and peacebuilding on the African continent to provide more effective and sustainable responses.
In his opening remarks, Amb.Ahmed Nehad Abdel-Latif, Director-General of CCCPA, stated that “the Aswan Forum, since its first edition, has put a spotlight on advancing efforts to operationalize conflict prevention and peacebuilding effective partnerships.” He added that the seminar coincides with the 30th anniversary of the 1992-Agenda for Peace launched by former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, which focused on preventative diplomacy and post-conflict peacebuilding; both significant priorities that contributed to shaping UN’s work since then and up to the New Agenda for Peace proposed by the current UN Secretary-General.
Amb. Osama Abdel Khalek, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the UN, provided an overview of Egypt’s contribution towards accelerating the shift towards sustaining peace within the UN system in the areas of peace, security, and conflict resolution since the launch of the Agenda for Peace, including through its membership in the UN Security Council (2016-2017), and its chairmanship of the 15th session of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. He also highlighted Egypt’s significant role at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on financing for peacebuilding that strengthened momentum for efforts to provide adequate, sustainable, and predictable funding to support peacebuilding activities in conflict-affected countries.
On his part, Amb. Oka Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, commended the strategic partnership with CCCPA and the Aswan Forum. He asserted his country’s firm commitment to boosting efforts for enhancing peace, security, and sustainable development on the African continent under the “New Approach for Peace and Stability in Africa”, announced at the occasion of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) in 2019, while noting that the eighth edition of TICAD will be held in Tunisia next August.
Amb. Håkan Emsgård, Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt, highlighted the significant bilateral relations between the two countries mirrored in their fruitful cooperation in the fields of peacebuilding, security, and sustainable development, in addition to synergies between the Aswan Forum and the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development. In this vein, the Swedish Ambassador underlined the importance of the seminar, the deliberations of which will serve as an input to foster enriching forward-looking and action-oriented discussions at both forums.
Ambassador of Brazil to Egypt, Amb. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, highlighted the key challenges facing multilateral cooperation and the need to make it more effective in face of such challenges at the current critical stage.
The seminar witnessed the participation of Ms, Fatima Kyari Mohamed, Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU) to the UN, as well as a group of senior officials at the UN, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, and the African Development Bank. Distinguished speakers stressed the importance of advancing partnerships between the UN, AU and other regional and international organizations through innovative tools and collaborative mechanisms to achieve peace, security, and sustainable development.
The Strategic Partners of the Aswan Forum include the Government of Japan, the Government of Sweden, and the African Development Bank. The Aswan Forum project is administered through UNDP.
