The Cairo International Centre for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) hosted a group of African ambassadors based in Cairo as part of the preparation process for the third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development. The forum is expected to be held in a hybrid format from 21 to 22 June under the title 'Africa in an era of successive risks and climate vulnerability: Pathways for a peaceful, resilient, and sustainable continent.' Ahmed Abdel Latif — Director-General of the CCCPA — said that the holding of the third edition of the forum reflects Egypt's keenness to advance the joint African agenda to overcome the challenges facing the continent, such as combating terrorism, overcoming the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, achieving food security, and advancing post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts. He added that this year's edition will be special because it will be held ahead of the UN Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) in Sharm El-Sheikh this November. Abdel Latif also said that a number of issues related to the repercussions of climate change on efforts to achieve peace and development in Africa will be discussed. For their part, the African ambassadors welcomed the convening of the third edition of the forum as a high-level African platform that offers innovative solutions to the interlocking and overlapping challenges facing the continent, adding it comes at the right time, when the world is witnessing large-scale transformations that have important implications for Africa. The ambassadors also stressed their keenness to strengthen cooperation with the CCCPA and to make the best use of its extensive experience in its various fields of work. It should be noted that Egypt initiated the Aswan Peace Forum for Sustainable Development during its presidency of the African Union in 2019 and in the framework of its leadership in post-conflict reconstruction and development in Africa. The previous two editions of the forum have been organised with a view to strengthening the relationship between peace and security on the one hand and sustainable development on the other in cooperation with a number of international partners.
