ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 1, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The African Union Commission (AUC) and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS) held a series of extensive consultative meetings at the Headquarters of the LAS in Cairo to discuss the implementation of Resolution2 of the 3rd Africa –Arab Summit, the preparation of the upcoming 4th Africa-Arab Summit and 9th Senior Officials Meeting of the Coordination Committee of the Africa –Arab Partnership.
Consultative meeting on the implementation of Resolution 2 of the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit, was Co-chaired by Mr. Zeid El Sabban, Director of the Africa and Africa-Arab Cooperation Department of the League of Arab States, representing the Arab side and Dr. Levi Uche Madueke, Head of Africa’s Strategic Partnerships, within the Bureau of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission representing the African side. Amb. Saleh Sahboun, Head of the Permanent Representative of the League of Arab States to Ethiopia, AU and ECA, Amb. Abdelhamid Bouzaher, Head of the African Union Permanent Delegation to the League of Arab States, as well as relevant staff members of the League of Arab States and the African Union Commission attended the meeting. Dr. Hassan Wadaa, attended, representing BADEA.
The meeting deliberated and critically examined the draft working paper on the “Rationalization of the Implementation and Follow up Mechanism of the Africa-Arab Partnership” prepared and presented by the League of Arab States.
The paper was presented in light of the Resolution 2 (1) of the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit which “requested the Coordination Committee to undertake an in-depth study on ways and means to activate and strengthen the partnership mechanisms, including the partnership committee, the Technical Committee and the Development Forum and submit its report to the Coordination Committee at the Ministerial Level, as soon as possible for its consideration and subsequent endorsement by the policy organs of both sides.
The 1st Meeting of the Preparatory committee at the Senior Officials Level for the Fourth Africa –Arab Summit (Malabo-Equatorial Guinea) was convened on the 28th of Feb, 2016.
The meeting was co-chaired by H.E Amb Rashed Al Hajiri Ambassador of Kuwait in Addis Ababa, representing Arab Side and H.E Amb Awad Ahmed Sakine, Ambassador of the Republic of Chad and the Chairperson of the Permanent Representative Committee of the African Union, representing the African side.
The meeting was attend by Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea,
Morocco, Mauritania, Kuwait and Egypt in its capacity as both the Chair of sub-committee on Multilateral Cooperation (on the African side) and the Chair of the Arab Summit (on the Arab Side).
The Meeting reviewed the progress Reports on implementation of the Resolutions of the 3rd Africa Arab Summit – Kuwait November 2013, as well as the report of the meeting on Africa Arab Cooperation Mechanisms that was held from 23-24 February 2016.
It discussed the preparation for the 3rd Africa-Arab Ministerial Meeting on Agricultural Development and Food Security and considered the work so far done with respect to Cooperation on Migration; activities of the Africa-Arab Cultural Institute in Bamako, Mali; the outcome of the meetings of the Working Groups on Trade and Investment, and Infrastructure; the preparation for the 8th Africa-Arab Trade Fair and Disaster Response Fund.
The Committee agreed on the Date of the 4th Africa Arab Summit with tentative period from 18-23 November 2016. It also agreed to hold a meeting of the Preparatory Committee to evaluate the different concerned premises and facilities In Malabo, as well an Extra Ordinary Meeting of the Senior Official Coordination Committee in April 2016, in Malabo.
