The Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) held its fourth International Advisory Board meeting on 1 December 2022 at its premises. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Amre Moussa, former Secretary-General of the Arab League, and attended by a number of board members, including H.E. Dr. Sukehiro Hasegawa, former Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Timor-Leste,H.E. Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse, former Deputy Director-General of the International Labor Organization; H.E. Ambassador Mona Omar, former Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs and AU Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt; and H.E. Ambassador Aly Erfan, Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, American University in Cairo.
H.E. Ambassador William Awinador-Kanyirige, Senior Advisor of the AU on Governance and Peacebuilding at the Office of the Commissioner, Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, participated in the meeting virtually. Meanwhile, attending as observers were Ms. Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator, Egypt; Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti, Resident Representative, UNDP Egypt; and Ms. Eriko Oshimi, Embassy of Japan in Egypt.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Amre Moussa pointed to the rapidly evolving global peace and security landscape and the emergence of non-traditional risks. He highlighted that “multilateral action should contribute to forging regional and national consensus to meet these challenges,” and cited Egypt’s success in hosting the COP27 conference.
H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Director General of CCCPA, welcomed the honorable Board members and expressed his appreciation for their key role in providing strategic counsel to the Center. He provided an overview of major developments and important milestones in CCCPA’s activities since the last board meeting in 2018, stating that “the changing nature of the global and regional challenges over the last few years has required implementing innovative approaches to the way we work.” He added that “the Center’s new state-of-the-art premises, along with the e-learning platform developed to facilitate the virtual conduct of trainings, have helped overcome some of the obstacles posed by COVID-19.”
In the same vein, Ambassador Abdel-Latif highlighted CCCPA’s new programs including Climate, Security, and Development (2019) and Youth, Peace, and Security (2022) , as well as new specialized trainings, including the pre-deployment training held for the first batch of Egyptian female contingents deployed to UN Peacekeeping Missions (September 2022), a course on security and development in the Red Sea (November 2021), and a training on integrating forced displacement in post-conflict reconstruction and development (November 2022)--noting that other customized training courses were also developed with a greater regional or country focus.
Furthermore, CCCPA’s Director General highlighted the Center’s role as the Secretariat of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development during the three successful editions of the Forum (2019-2021-2022). In this context, he referred to the extensive regional and global recognition of the Forum as “a high-level policy platform that proposes holistic and innovative approaches to address the myriad of cascading risks confronting the African continent through advancing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.”
Finally, Ambassador Abdel-Latif noted that other new developments in the Center’s work are exemplified in conducting field missions for the first time in Nigeria and South Sudan, playing a greater role in facilitating dialogue and consensus-building--as reflected in the hosting of the high-level retreat on “Post-2021 Arrangements in Somalia” in February 2022--and contributing to the formulation of policy documents such as the Cairo Roadmap for Enhancing the Performance of Peacekeeping Operations: From Mandate to Exit, and initiatives such as the “COP27 Presidency Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP).”
On his part, H.E. Ambassador William Awinador-Kanyirige stated that “the remarkable efforts of CCCPA--an AU Center of Excellence--in building and enhancing African capacities in dealing with crises and conflict reflect Egypt’s important role in strengthening peace and security both regionally and internationally.” In addition, he underscored the importance of the well-established partnership between the Cairo Center and the AU Commission as reflected in several AU communiqués.The meeting was followed by an open discussion among the Board members who praised the Center’s achievements, the important initiatives it has launched, and the richness and diversity of its activities. The Board encouraged CCCPA to further intensify cooperation with regional organizations, especially the AU and the League of Arab States, as well as expand its activities on women, youth, peace, and security. Finally, the Board emphasized the importance of strengthening engagement with the private sector and foundations on one hand and with universities and research centers on the other, including through joint programs, and expanding the visibility of the Center’s activities and outreach efforts.
