Owned by Africa, and supported by international and regional partners, the Inaugural edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development put forward a broad and ambitious agenda for addressing the peace, security and development challenges facing the African continent. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on societies and economies, across the world.

While Africa has shown strong leadership in addressing the health impact of COVID-19, pre-existing vulnerabilities, further magnified by the pandemic, have destabilized lives and livelihoods on an unprecedented scale. Youth, women and forcibly displaced populations continue to be disproportionately impacted.  The longer the crisis lasts, its impact will erode the hard-won gains of decades of economic and human development, increasing the fragility of many African states. 

Against this backdrop, and acting in its capacity as the Champion of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development in Africa, Egypt will organize the Second Edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, titled:

Shaping Africa’s New Normal: Recovering Stronger, Rebuilding Better

The Forum, to be held virtually from 1-5 March 2021, will bring together leaders from governments, regional and international organizations, financial institutions, private sector, and civil society, as well as visionaries, scholars and key experts, practitioners for a context-specific and action-oriented discussion of the new risks, threats and challenges, as well as opportunities that lie ahead.  

Building on the inaugural Aswan Forum and its conclusions, the second edition aims to advance a positive and forward-looking agenda as Africa charters on its pathway for recovery post-COVID-19. Most importantly, the forum will emphasize the need to accelerate the paradigm shift from crisis management to conflict prevention, in an effort to strengthen resilience as an integral part of strategies to “recover stronger” and “rebuild better” post-pandemic.

Grounded in the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the forum will continue to champion African led-solutions and efforts to ensure that national, regional and continental actors are better equipped to deal with the “new normal” in the wake of the pandemic. In this context, it will focus on concrete measures to push forward the implementation of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus both on the strategic and operational levels.

Under the supervision of a National Coordination Committee, headed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), acting in its capacity as the Secretariat of the Forum, is conducting a series of webinars in preparation for the Forum. These preparatory webinars aim to propose a set of suggested actions and measures for the consideration of African and international leaders to strengthen continental and global cooperation and partnerships to advance peace, security and sustainable development in Africa.

CCCPA – Secretariat of the Aswan Forum

Founded in 1994, the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) is an Egyptian public agency; an AU Center of Excellence in training, capacity building and research; and the Arab world’s leading civilian training center on issues of peace and security. It is a major voice of the Global South on a wide range of topics, including conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, preventing radicalization and extremism leading to terrorism, combating transnational threats, and the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda.

For media queries, please contact Nourhane Magd, Communications and Visibility Associate, CCCPA at tel: +20 (2) 27 92 89 50, or e-mail: nourhane.magd@cairopeacekeeping.org

For more information on the first edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, please visit www.af1-2019.aswanforum.org

Photo credit: nationalseniorstravel.com