Leaders Convene For AU Summit

The 33rd African Union (AU) Ordinary Session of the Assembly is taking place in Addis Ababa this coming weekend, with high-level meetings already underway as part of the 36th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council. The theme for the event is “Silencing the Guns; Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development.”

Zambia is represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Malanji, who is accompanied by Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Christopher Yaluma and Minister of Justice Given Lubinda, among other officials.

Also in attendance will be the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. A total of 31 African Heads of State are expected to attend, alongside the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg.

At the Summit Malanji will deliver a progress report on Ending Child Marriage on behalf of President Lungu, as well as statements on the implementation of the Master Road Map to Silence the Guns in Africa by the Year 2020 and the implementation of the AU’s Agenda 2063.

During the event the Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard (AATS) will be released, presented by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. The scorecards are designed to reveal which countries are not only talking about diversifying their economies and developing their agriculture sector but are actually doing so. The 2017 report previously revealed only 20 of the 47 member states were on track. 

Zambia’s AATS score previously stood at 3.6 out of 10, meaning that in 2017 the country was not on track to implementing the Malabo Declaration on Agriculture Transformation. Key areas highlighted for action at the time were the high levels of undernourishment (47.8%) and child stunting (40%), as well as the percentage of public agriculture expenditure as a share of total public expenditure (8.2%), the annual growth of the agriculture value added (-3.4%) and the percentage of men and women engaged in agriculture that have access to financial services (27.4%).

A series of side events are also expected to take place in the coming days including a meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, the launch of the Africa Women’s Leadership Fund (AWLF) and the signing of the UN-AU Joint Framework on Human Rights.

The Summit will be followed by the third edition of the African Business Forum on February 11th, convened by the Economic Commission for Africa and focused on “Investing in People, Planet and Prosperity.”