Delegates from across the continent met for two days of talks focused on conflict and development, with water sanitation chosen as the theme for this year’s meeting …reports Asian Lite News
The “extermination” of the Palestinian people must end, African Union Commission chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said on Saturday as he opened the organisation’s 39th summit, placing the war in Gaza at the forefront of proceedings alongside a string of crises across Africa.
“In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of this people must stop,” Youssouf told assembled leaders at the start of the meeting. He was elected to head the institution a year ago.
His remarks came as heads of state and government from the African Union’s 55 member countries gathered for two days of discussions expected to range from security and humanitarian pressures to economic integration and climate resilience. This year’s declared theme for the summit is water sanitation, an issue organisers say is central to development and public health across the continent.
The conflict in Gaza has reverberated far beyond the region, prompting reactions from governments worldwide and featuring repeatedly in multilateral forums. The Gaza Strip, a small coastal territory bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under a very strict Israeli siege since the start of the war triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on October 7, 2023. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians.
Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel’s retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Youssouf also used his opening address to draw attention to conflicts on the African continent, arguing that persistent instability continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians and hamper development efforts.
“From Sudan to the Sahel, to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in Somalia and elsewhere, our people continue to pay the heavy price of instability,” he said.
Several of those crises are expected to feature prominently in closed-door discussions among leaders, diplomats said, with wars, coups and insurgencies having displaced millions and strained regional bodies. The African Union has in recent years sought to present itself as a more assertive diplomatic actor, though its responses have at times exposed divisions among member states.
The annual summit also provides an opportunity for bilateral meetings on the margins, where governments pursue national priorities including trade, investment and security cooperation. Observers say the backdrop of global geopolitical tensions, as well as competition for influence from major powers, is likely to shape conversations in corridors as much as in the plenary hall.
Even so, organisers have emphasised the practical focus of this year’s agenda on water sanitation, linking improved access to safe water and hygiene to economic productivity, education and resilience against disease.
Youssouf’s intervention ensured that events in Gaza, along with Africa’s own conflicts, set a sombre tone at the outset of the gathering, underscoring the breadth of challenges confronting leaders as the summit gets under way.
