Africa-Press – Angola. Full text of the Speech by the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, at the annual Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
Mr. President,
Thank you very much for giving me the floor,
Excellencies,
As Your Excellencies know, during the 16th Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes in Africa, I was designated Champion of the African Union for Peace and National Reconciliation, and since that date I have been entrusted with a responsibility that I seek to exercise with the aim of urgency and commitment that questions about peace and national reconciliation in Africa pose to all of us.
At that time, I realized that the task entrusted to me could only be carried out successfully if there was a real commitment from each of our States, countries, governments and populations of our continent, which should coordinately and jointly commit to the carrying out the actions outlined by our organization, with a view to ending conflicts and definitively silencing weapons in Africa.
I have received significant support from African Union bodies, the United Nations, Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms and international partners in Africa, for the fulfillment of my responsibilities in terms of peace and national reconciliation on the continent, for which I am most sincerely grateful. on behalf of all Africans.
During these last two days, in the different meetings that have already taken place, I have exhaustively discussed issues relating to peace and security in Africa, and have given special emphasis to the conflict that continues in the Eastern Region of the DRC, pointing out in perspective what will be, in the our vision, the path to follow for the resolution of this intricate problem.
For this reason, in today’s meeting I will speak about other problems facing our continent and, in this sense, I would start by making some considerations on the pacification process in the Central African Republic, within which we carried out a series of initiatives, in the among others, to convince the leaders of the various armed groups operating in the country to abandon the rebellion and establish residence outside Central African territory.
I must say that these regional efforts led to the adoption of the Joint Roadmap for Peace in the CAR better known as the Roadmap for Luanda, which defined some axes of activity, of which I highlight the ceasefire and the DDRR (Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation). , which, as a whole, helped to create a climate of greater distension and understanding, favoring the Internal Republican dialogue between all the living forces of the Central African nation.
The current situation in CAR, it is important to recognize, is much better than the one registered in 2020.
This development should encourage us to pursue all possible efforts with a view to consolidating the peace processes that are taking place in a very positive way in other regions of our continent.
In this context, our part deserved special attention, the understandings reached between the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the People of Tigray, which we opportunely congratulate on the signing of the peace agreement that took place in November 2022.
We have records of satisfactory progress in South Sudan and Sudan, where there are still some concerns that need our attention, in order to help these two countries and brother peoples to overcome the existing internal differences and thus consolidate the process of peace and stabilization underway in their countries.
We have observed, with great hope for a positive outcome, the encouraging signs recorded within the framework of the transition processes in Chad, Guinea and Burkina Faso, in which the various political actors in the respective countries have increasingly sought to demonstrate their will and capacity to overcome the existing differences between the different parties involved, with a view to a negotiated way out of the crisis and a return to democratic normality.
Despite the encouraging signs that are emerging in Mali and Libya, we must recognize that in these countries there are still quite marked differences between the main actors involved in the effort to find solutions to the problems they face, placing ourselves, for therefore, the need for ECOWAS and the Arab Maghreb Union, in articulation with the African Union, to pursue with determination and persistence, the steps leading to the full resolution of the serious internal problems experienced by these countries.
Along with other conflicts that we have dealt with within our organization, the issue of maritime piracy, the proliferation of armed groups and terrorism, is included at the same level and level of concern, phenomena that have seriously affected the Gulf of Guinea. , the Sahel Region and the Republic of Mozambique, which is confronted with large-scale violent actions, triggered by extremist armed groups, with the aim of imposing their ideals by force, thus delaying the development prospects of this southern African country .
The current scenario in Mozambique is considerably calmer and more stable, due to the prompt reaction of SADC, which immediately activated and with the positive results that we know today, the Joint Force on State of Alert of SADC, which acts in coordination with the Armed Forces Mozambicans.
This is a Mechanism that is proving to be effective and necessary, so it should deserve all our political, logistical, financial and other support, as it could be useful in future situations.
I conclude by reiterating our solidarity with the Member States whose peoples are the true victims of the consequences caused by political instability, and I express once again our readiness to honor the mission entrusted to us as Champion of Peace and Reconciliation in Africa.
Thank you very much for everyone’s attention!
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