Africa-Press – Angola. Several African leaders, including the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, meet today and tomorrow in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss aspects related to Peace and Security on the African continent.
The Heads of State will sit at the same table to discuss these issues, which are of great concern to the continent, during the 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, which starts today until tomorrow, in this city, under the motto: ” Africa in the face of exogenous shocks: challenges to stability and sovereignty”.
The Angolan statesman, who will participate in the event as a guest of honor, has been in this city since 1:00 pm yesterday, 2:00 pm Angola time. Upon arrival at the airport, the Head of State, who is accompanied by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço, was received by the Prime Minister of Senegal and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Angolan delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, and the Angolan ambassador to Senegal, Adão Pinto, were also at the airport to receive the President.
According to the Secretary of the President of the Republic for Institutional Communication and Press Affairs, Luís Fernando, the presence of the Angolan statesman at the event marks the beginning of his international agenda in this term.
For today, during the opening ceremony of the Forum, a five-minute speech by President João Lourenço is planned, through which he will highlight focal aspects of the central theme of the meeting.
According to the event’s programme, after this moment, President João Lourenço will participate in the High Level Panel, with other counterparts, where he will be confronted with three questions related to the Forum’s central theme.
The first question, which will be asked of you, as acting president of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL), aims to hear your vision and perspective for achieving stability on the African continent, while the second will to hear from the Angolan statesman solutions for the strengthening of African sovereignty, in the face of the impacts of exogenous shocks on the continent.
The third and last questions aim to share experience regarding the Region’s responses to the fight against terrorism in Southern Africa. The High Level Panel will be moderated by two African journalists, namely, Ana Maria Borges, from Cape Verde, and Cheick Yvann, from Côte d’Ivoire.
The Heads of State of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, currently acting president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of the Commission for African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the former President of Niger, as well as representatives of the French and Japanese Governments, partners considered historic and in relation to the genesis of the Forum.
The 8th edition of the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security takes place at a time when the African continent continues to be faced with situations that jeopardize the stability of some countries, as is the case, for example, of Burkina Faso, which once again experienced , in less than eight months, the second coup d’état.
Since assuming, on a rotating basis, in 2020, the destinations of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, the Head of State João Lourenço has carried out several initiatives, on the African continent, aimed at stabilizing the political situation and of security of Member States in the region and beyond, as well as it has also been committed to the application of a new organizational and operational dynamics of this regional mechanism.
These actions, aimed at pacifying the continent, led him to be distinguished, in May of this year, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, during the 16th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa, held by his initiative, entitled “Champion for Reconciliation and Peace in Africa”.
On this occasion, the Angolan statesman defended the need for the rapid operationalization of the African Force in State of Alert, a mechanism belonging to the African peace and security architecture, which would have, among other functions, to intervene in critical moments and situations, which stability and security of countries, regions and the continent as a whole.
President João Lourenço highlighted, by the way, that it is not possible to build stability and security for some without supporting and taking into account the security and stability of all others.
For the Angolan statesman, conflicts taking place on the African continent will only be resolved through sincere dialogue, in which each party must accept the idea of making concessions, always bearing in mind the high value of peace, protection and well-being of populations and development as goals to be achieved.
“The Republic of Angola has an experience of 27 years in a row of an internal conflict that seemed to have no end. After many attempts and contributions from different sources, the formula based on the solution of dialogue between estranged Angolan brothers, based on which we managed to put a definitive end to the war that ravaged our country for decades”, he stressed at the time.
The Head of State said that, based on successful events in Angola’s recent history, he has sought, within the framework of the CIRGL and other regional organizations, to play an effective role and promote dialogue in the Great Lakes region and in Central Africa, more precisely in the Central African Republic, where, as mentioned, significant advances can be seen, although still insufficient in the internal appeasement process.
“This model, adjusted to the reality of each of our countries, can be replicated in other parts of our continent over which conflicts of a different nature hover, which act as a fuse for the outbreak of the military confrontation that is currently observed on our continent”, highlighted the President on that occasion.
Historical Visit
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, considered the visit of the Head of State to Senegal to be historic, noting that it has been followed, with great attention, by the media and the diplomatic circle present, at this moment, in Dakar.
“It is an important occasion for the country and for the diplomacy that our President has carried out, not only to convey the message of what he does, as Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa, but also of the very role of the Republic of Angola in our region”, he stressed.
Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa
The Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, also known as the Dakar Forum, has been taking place since 2014, annually bringing together Heads of State and Government, economic and industrial partners, representatives of civil society, international partners, as well as peace and security agents from different countries.
The Dakar Forum is a Franco-Senegalese initiative that was launched in 2013, during the Elysee Summit for Peace and Security in Africa, in which Angola was represented by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The last edition of the event brought to the table the theme “The challenges of stability and emergency in Africa in a post-Covid-19 world”.
According to the organization, the 8th edition, which begins today, aims to stimulate a pragmatic reflection to promote inclusive solutions for the strengthening of stability, security and sovereignty in Africa in the face of exogenous shocks, but, for that, it adds, it requires a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of peace in general and of Africa’s and its partners’ responses to instability in particular.
The organization states that, in this context, the focus will be on addressing security and stability issues, through greater self-sufficiency, mobilization and development of endogenous peacekeeping capabilities, including the operationalization of the Union’s peace and security architecture and effective approaches to combating and/or preventing the spread of violent extremism.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
