ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The 31st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) kicked off on Friday in the framework of the 29th AU summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
In their two-day meeting, the foreign ministers of AU member states deliberate mainly on issues related to peace and security, AU Reform, and migration among others.
In his opening remarks, Moussa Faki Mahamt, Chairperson of the AU Commission, noted that peace and security is one of the top priorities, for which he said that new approach is needed to deal with new forms of violence on the continent.
He said that "no violent crisis in Africa will be resolved by arms," emphasizing the need of dialogue, reconciliation and the search for consensual solutions to the problems.
Faki said that the empowerment of women and youth is an urgent need for any progress on the continent, emphasizing the need to take necessary actions to meet their expectations, which he said are huge and urgent.
"Economic and political governance issues call for more resolute attention. Among the many issues to which this priority refers, the issue of the free trade area, as it facilitates the movement of people and capital, is of prime importance. Investment, particularly private investment, innovative entrepreneurship, job creation and integration depend to a large extent on it. Its implementation procedures need to be accelerated," said the Chairperson.
Reiterating that illegal migration has continued to expose Africans to tragedies, the Chairperson also emphasized the need to act on immediate measures, while accelerating long-term and medium-term policies to combat poverty, exclusion and marginalization on the continent.
Stating that the process of AU Reform is on, Faki also called for concrete measures to speed up the process.
"All the abundant activity on the reform makes us optimistic. The train has left the station. However, it is urgent to propose to our Heads of State and Government concrete measures to speed up the process and to make them robust so that the year 2018 in history of our organization be that of its reform and its second renaissance," said the Chairperson.
In his remarks on the occasion, Abdalla Hamdok, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), underlined the need to tap Africa's potentials of urbanization and intra-Africa trade as well as the demographic dividend to ensure sustainable economic growth and overcome global shocks.
He also underlined the need to improve macroeconomic management, to increase diversification of the economy, and improve business environment towards Africa's growth resilience.
"Deepening trade and investment ties in Africa, through regional integration is critical. The proposed Continental Free Trade Area together with the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-Africa Trade will further facilitate large gains from trade," said Hamdok. Enditem
