The third edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development concluded successfully. High-level officials, speakers, partners and participants expressed their appreciation for the convening of this edition at a critical juncture within a shifting global landscape — noting that the forum now stands as a fixture on the African agenda, addressing the interlinkages between peace and development and championing African-led solutions, through strengthening the policies-practices linkages, while capitalizing on a broad range of partnerships.

The two-day forum, held in Cairo on 21-22 June, witnessed rich discussions and in-depth deliberations with the participation of several ministers and top-ranking officials from Egypt, African countries, development partners, international and regional organizations, international and regional financial institutions as well as representatives from civil society, think tanks and the private sector.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, stated, in a video message delivered during the forum’s opening session, that “since its launch in 2019, the Aswan Forum has established itself as an effective and inclusive African platform that tackles the various threats and challenges facing the continent and advances holistic responses.”

The United Nations Secretary-General (UN) and the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission underlined the cascading challenges and risks confronting the African continent in pre-recorded messages for the opening of the forum.

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry also addressed the opening session before moderating the first panel, comprising the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad, Republic of Senegal, Aïssata Tall Sall; the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani; the Minister of Peacebuilding, Republic of South Sudan, Stephen Par Kuol; the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Waly; and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, African Union Commission, Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko.

Held against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical tensions, global economic downturn, a looming food crisis, growing climate change impacts, terrorism threats, and the continued health and socio-economic reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum focused on tackling such cascading risks and their effects on peace and development in Africa. In this regard, this year’s edition reaffirmed the importance of the international community prioritizing advancing peace and development on the continent, including through scaling up financing and cooperation, as Africa continues to grapple with existing and emerging challenges. It asserted the imperative of charting pathways to strengthen Africa’s ability to address such challenges — pathways which are grounded in long term policies and robust institutions, within a broader global push for inclusive multilateralism and renewed partnerships. The discussions also affirmed the importance of further enhancing cooperation among African countries, through sharing experiences and best practices, and adopting integrated approaches and holistic responses that entrench the principle of national ownership, in the face of overlapping and convergent crises.

Climate change — and its far-reaching implications on socio-economic development and sustainable peace, security, and stability in Africa — was among the pressing issues thoroughly tackled during this year’s edition, making it an important milestone in the build up to the 27th session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP27) to be held in Sharm el Sheikh in November 2022. Within this context, the forum discussed the nexus of climate adaptation and peacebuilding — with the participation of Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad — emphasizing the importance of leveraging climate adaptation action for peacebuilding, and tackling the root causes of fragility which exacerbate climate-related risks.

Discussions also highlighted the need to address climate displacement through durable solutions, and to adopt integrated responses and collaborative efforts to deal with the impacts of climate change on the water-food-energy ecosystems in Africa. In this regard, participants stressed on the imperative of implementing climate pledges and commitments, especially those pertaining to supporting African countries in confronting the growing impacts of climate change and doubling climate adaptation finance. In light of these discussions on climate change and its repercussions on peace and development, consideration will be given to the possibility of an initiative in this area at COP27 that takes into account African priorities.

This year’s edition also addressed Africa’s growing terrorism challenge as the continent continues to contend with a surge in terrorist violence; one which requires holistic, whole-of-government, and whole of society approaches, bearing in mind Egypt’s successful experience in this respect. In this context, a session titled, “Aswan in Practice—Advancing Holistic Efforts to Confront Africa’s Terrorism Challenge: A Nigerian Case Study”, discussed national and state level efforts underway in Nigeria to confront terrorism, with the participation of a high-level Nigerian delegation from Borno State, headed by Governor Babagana Zulum, as well as several senior officials from Nigeria’s Federal government. Discussions were informed by a flagship field mission report, by the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), which was launched on this occasion. The report, whose preparation involved consultations with Nigerian authorities, including Borno State, is based on a mission conducted by CCCPA to Nigeria last December. The mission aimed to examine pathways out of extremism, particularly in light of the increased caseload of individuals formerly associated with terrorist groups and mass defections; with Borno State bearing the brunt of such developments as the epicenter and main flashpoint for Boko Haram’s insurgency. The report and mission come within the framework of “Aswan in Practice”, one of the highlights of this year’s edition, which aims to implement the Aswan Conclusions on Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa through on-the ground field work—as a key part of the Aswan Forum cycle.

As in previous editions, this year’s edition prominently featured efforts to enhance peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and development, building on the launch of the African Union Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development last December in Cairo. Discussions underlined the crucial need to prioritize building robust and resilient institutions to prevent, withstand, and cope with emerging threats and cascading crises, as well as increasing sustained financing that accelerates the shift from short-term response to long-term investments, while working to strengthen the implementation of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

For the first time within its agenda, this year’s forum included a youth dialogue aimed at building bridges and sharing experiences between African youth engaged on the frontlines of climate action on one hand and others engaged in peacebuilding efforts on the other. The dialogue titled “Empowering African Youth Voices for a Peaceful and Climate-Resilient Future”, witnessed the active participation of African youth and featured rich discussions to leverage their experiences in putting forward integrated responses to address climate change and the challenges hindering peace and security. The outcomes of the Aswan Forum Youth Dialogue will be presented to the upcoming Conference of Youth (COY17) in the lead up to COP27.

This edition also addressed a range of relevant issues related to advancing the sustainable peace and development agenda in Africa, including, leveraging women’s role as catalysts for resilience; advancing sustainable peace and development in the Red Sea; strengthening the UN-AU partnership in peace operations—in partnership with the Challenges Forum International Secretariat (CFIS); the interlinkage between climate and security in the Sahel region—in partnership with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF); advancing the culture of peace in Africa—in partnership with Biennale of Luanda: the Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace convened by Angola, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the African Union.

Contributing to this year’s successful edition, the Aswan Forum welcomed new partners, including the European Union (EU) as a supporting partner and the World Bank as a partner. This complements a number of existing partnerships, which include the Governments of Japan and Sweden, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) as strategic partners; the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as a supporting partner; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as an institutional partner; EFG Hermes as a corporate sponsor; UNWomen and Twitter as partners; in addition to the AU, several UN agencies, international organizations, forums, and research centers as knowledge partners.

The outcomes of the extensive deliberations held prior to and during the third edition of the Aswan Forum will be encapsulated in “The Aswan Conclusions on Sustainable Peace and Development in Africa”. Implementation of the Conclusions will kick-start immediately within the context of an integrated cycle which includes work on the ground with findings then feeding back into discussions at the next edition. The Aswan Forum cycle contributes towards the Aswan Forum fulfilling its role as a platform to exchange experiences and best practices on African home-grown responses to the pressing challenges facing the continent, thus seeking to make a tangible impact on efforts to advance sustainable peace and development in Africa, within the broader drive to achieve Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.