UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Bint Ibrahim Al Hashimi, chaired the UAE delegation participating in the 32nd AU Summit, which was launched yesterday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa under the slogan "General of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons" 2019.
On the sidelines of the summit, Reem Al Hashemi held several meetings with senior officials from African countries and international organizations. She met with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abe Ahmed. The two sides discussed means of developing bilateral relations at all levels and levels, especially the different fields of development.
She met with the President of the Republic of Estonia, Christie Calgulaide, and the Foreign Ministers of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Benin, Gabon, Kenya, Cameroon, Liberia and Niger. During the meeting, they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations, as well as a number of issues of mutual interest. She also discussed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , Felipe Grandi, the situation of refugees and displaced persons, and ways to resolve this crisis, in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates.
This year, the summit discussed the resolution of outstanding political issues such as the Central African issue, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the displacement of internally displaced persons, addressing the issue of trafficking in human beings, the institutional reform process of the African Union and the ambitious projects such as the Free Trade Area, To implement the implementation mechanism of the Agenda Agenda Initiative in 2063.
The summit was attended by about 40 African leaders and heads of state, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, WHO Director-General Tidros Adenhom, UN and continental officials and representatives of international and regional organizations. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, presided over by the African Union, which was established in 2002 as an alternative to the Organization of African Unity.
The African Union's legal adviser, Nemira Nejem, said that the countries of the continent rely on African funding to solve their problems. The member states signed the free trade agreement between 52 countries, indicating that the ratification documents are expected to be deposited and the agreement will enter into force soon.
The African Union is working to combat the phenomenon of illegal immigration, and discussed in this regard the adoption of work on the issuance of a unified African passport, and the Council of Ambassadors to agree on the specifications of the passport to be implemented by African countries.