(2 minutes read)
· African heads of state gathered at the headquarters of the
African Union for a summit meeting would be focusing on how the body
can play a more proactive role in resolving conflicts proliferating
across the continent with theme “Silencing the Guns”.
· The resolution was adopted in 2013 for ending “all wars in
Africa by 2020”:yet, it still remains as a pipedream.
African heads of state gathered at the headquarters of the African
Union for a summit meeting would be focusing on how the body can play
a more proactive role in resolving conflicts proliferating across the
continent with theme “Silencing the Guns”. The resolution was adopted
in 2013 for ending “all wars in Africa by 2020”. Yet, it still
remains as a pipedream.
AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat painted a bleak picture of
the continent’s security situation against the backdrop of extremist
threats in most of the countries in the continent. He underlined the
security situation in Africa and depicted how complex it was, showing
no signs of abetment in the near future. This is the first time, the
AU summit is focusing on ending conflict in ntheregion. In the earlier
years, the foci were mostly on resolving the poor finances of the
organization, restructuring to reform AU, implementation of a
continent-wide free trade area etc.
Notwithstanding some progress made in the Central African Republic
and Sudan, conflicts in places like Libya, South Sudan, Cameroon,
Mozambique etc. have played spoilsport in achieving the lofty goals of
the resolution to have a gun free Africa. South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa, who will take over from Egyptian President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi as AU chair, appears attuned to these challenges. He
said innovative solutions that put the military solution into
perspective by combining it with measures from other areas, notably
development should be the hallmark of the peace process.
On re-coining the motto of the resolution, silence the guns by 2020,
experts feel that its relevance and contemporary context are still
intact , though the time frame fixed for achievement may not be
achieved. It is an ideal that has to be chased till it is made
possible. The timeframe is only symbolic of early attaining the goal,
they say, and goal post need not be changed.
