The 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) that ran for two consecutive days under the theme “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development concluded last Monday targeting to realize the aspirations of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and create a prosperous, conflict-free continent.
Undeniably, over the past four or five decades, Africa had been reputed as a continent with endless internal conflicts and upheavals, intolerance and civil wars, corruption, Injustice and inequality.
In truth, though the situation was not as despondent as it was often said, the continent in its history has passed through a number of undesirable perplexing moments and incidents: instability, unrest, civil war and the like misfortunes after independence.
Even these days, some of the countries are encountering a wide range of conflicts and crises. Both the internal and external factors are contributing for this. Internally, ideological differences and conflict of interest have great share. Externally, the political and economic intervention of the “great powers” is still challenging the stability of the continent.
In the face of such great challenges, the AU is working aggressively to create a continent which is free from violence, chaos and civil war. Agenda 2063 is part of the continental endeavor devised to create peaceful and prosperous Africa that is suitable for its future generations.
Despite that, as it is often stated, these days Africa is addressing fewer conflicts than in the past and relatively to date, the continent is more peaceful than it was decades ago. However, a lot remains to be done to see a conflict free continent.
As it was addressed on the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the challenges facing African nations are “complex, multi-faceted and far-reaching” but, a “collective, comprehensive and coordinated” response by the global community will build on the momentum that already exists to help the continent thrive.
Continent’s ambitious initiative – ‘silencing the guns’- in this regard, is a core remedy to solve Africans problems by Africans, maintain good relations, flourish peace and realize a conflict-free continent.
However, the initiative would not be realized simply because it is proposed and aspired. Rather, it requires each member country’s firm commitment and dedication – to promote inclusiveness, solve differences peacefully, detect and defuse crises before they escalate to conflicts.
African leaders and politicians, beyond rhetoric, should act accordingly to end up lethal violence, civil conflicts and displacement, disparities in wealth and power, and silence the guns at their respective national territories as continental peace come out of and go beyond from each country’s peacefulness and security.
The Ethiopian Herald February 12/2020
