Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Ethiopia, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the African Union Barlybay Sadykov took part in the annual 36th Summit of the Heads of State of the African Union, held in the capital of Ethiopia on February 18-19, 2023, DKNews.kz reports.
The AU summit was attended by more than 40 heads of state and government, 8 foreign ministers of the AU member states, heads of international organizations - the UN, the League of Arab States, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the President of the European Council Ch.Michel, Prime Ministers of Palestine M.Shtayyeh, of Portugal A.Costa and a number of other high-ranking representatives of observer countries to the AU.
The main issues during the AU Summit were: security threats as a result of conflicts, terrorism, unconstitutional coups, food security, UN Security Council reforms, AU response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of the Agreement on the Establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), climate change, etc.
Following the results of the AU Summit, a number of documents on the agenda items were adopted.
The chairmanship of the AU passed from the Republic of Senegal to the Union of the Comoros. The year 2023 has been declared in Africa as «The Year of accelerating the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Zone».
During the summit, the UN announced the allocation of 250 million US dollars from the UN Emergency Fund to Africa. The World Bank has announced the allocation of $50 billion in financial development assistance to African countries in 2023.
In addition, on February 15-16, 2023, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan took part in the 42nd session of the Executive Council of the African Union with the participation of African foreign ministers, as well as in a number of events organized on the sidelines of the summit, held bilateral meetings with members of delegations of AU member States.
Kazakhstan has been an observer country in the AU since 2013.
The 36th Summit was an anniversary one. 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (transformed into the AU in 2002).
