AFRICAN SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE FOR THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 1st FEBRUARY 2017 COMMUNIQUE
The Commission of the African Union (AU), in cooperation with the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR), organised, on 1 February 2017, at the Headquarters of the African Union, an African Solidarity Conference for the Central African Republic, in pursuance to the communiqués of the 586th, 612th and 624th meetings of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU in order to mobilise multi-faceted support from the AU Member States and contribute to the post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts of the CAR.
H.E Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Minister of External Affairs of Angola; H.E Ms. Marjon V. Kamara, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia; and H.E Mr. Mohammed Edrees, Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs of Egypt, graced the Conference with their participations.
The welcome address of the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smaïl Chergui, was followed by a Statement from H.E Mr. Félix Moloua, Minister of Economic, Planning and Cooperation of the CAR, as well as by a presentation on the implementation of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017-2021 in his country. The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission and Head of the AU Mission for Central Africa and the Central African Region (MISAC), Professor Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, highlighted the main challenges of the current situation in the CAR, including the humanitarian, security and economic aspects; the much-awaited for contribution of AU Member States to the reconstruction of the CAR; and the African Peace Initiative in the CAR led by the AU and supported by the Economic Community of the Central Africa States (ECCAS), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Angola, Republic of Congo and Chad.
The participants stressed that this African Solidarity Conference was an initial mobilisation phase, which the Commission should pursue with the AU Member States, particularly by sensitising them further about the implementation of the Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017- 2021 of the CAR, in order to mobilize their support.
The Conference expressed appreciation of the contributions and engagements announced on the occasion and looks forward to other announcements by Member States.
The international partners present at the Conference reiterated their commitments to pursue the implementation of their respective actions in support of the post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts of the CAR.