34th Ordinary Session of Executive Council of AU Kicks Off

The 34th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) has begun in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia today.

A high-level Ethiopian delegation headed by State Minister of Foreign Affairs,Hirut Zemene, is taking part in the two-day ministerial session commenced at the AU headquarters.

In his opening remark, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat said “This session of the Executive Council is held just days before the 100th anniversary of the first Pan-African Congress.”

“In addition, in a few months we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Sirte Declaration, which laid the foundation for the transformation of the OAU into an African Union,” he added.

Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Dr Vera Songwe, for his part congratulated Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Norway for implementing innovative integration programs for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The meeting of the foreign ministers of the African Union comes ahead of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, due to be held 10th -11th February 2019.

The theme of this weekend summit is “The Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”.