Foreign Ministers of member states of the African Union -AU and representatives of international institutions have attended the opening session of the 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council (Ministerial Session) in #AddisAbaba.
H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union Commission -AUC Chairperson, while delivering the opening address disclosed that the commission is intensifying efforts in combating the Coronavirus pandemic, alleviating its social impact on African economies, and the possible activation of the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention which he said is in its advanced stage.
In his words Faki said the continent has been affected by a string of conflicts that have destabilized large numbers of people thereby threatening the peace and security of several regions of the continent have brought about an increasing military coup, intra-state conflict, and expansion of murdering groups in many African states,” he noted.
The 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council, a prelude to AU 35th Ordinary Assembly is also expected to consider draft agenda, draft decisions, and declarations with appropriate recommendations for consideration by the Heads of State and Government during their 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, scheduled to take place on 5th and 6th of February this year.
Also present during the opening of the 40th Ordinary Session of the AU foreign Ministers, the United Nations Under-Secretary and executive secretary of the UNECA, Vera Songwe noted that Africa, just like the rest of the world, needs to build resilience against a number of threats including climate change, cyber security risks, pandemics, and infectious diseases, weak governance, and conflict.”
Songwe opined that Africa had lost between 3 percent and 16 percent GDP annually due to malnutrition adding that ‘’today our senses are awoken and the race to improve our health systems and manufacture locally is afoot and that Africa is surviving the health pandemic with a stretched economy while relying on 20 years of building solidarity to create the African Medical Supplies Platform to access protective equipment.
She however warned that the continent could face another more devastating human crisis as the number of food-insecure people in the continent rises.
The two days Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU foreign Ministers and the physical convergence is the first since the COVID-19 pandemic, themed “Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development.”
