The President of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, who is also President of the Union of Comoros, told the Summit of Heads of State and Governments of four African regional organizations, held in Luanda on Tuesday, that African countries must unite to consolidate peace and security on the continent and prevent the spread of regional conflicts.
Mr. Assoumani said that it was important to step up African cooperation to put an end to the persistent conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), calling for the creation of a coordination group made up of representatives of the AU, regional communities and the United Nations to promote peace in this African country.
Mr. Assoumani also stressed the need to adopt effective political solutions to ensure the optimum use of available resources and prevent competition between the continent’s various regional mechanisms.
The Chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, emphasized the need to find African solutions to the continent’s problems and to coordinate efforts to ensure effective management of local resources.
He also urged the regional blocs to make greater efforts to establish peace through close cooperation and to take vigorous action to combat human rights violations.
For his part, the Angolan President, João Lourenço, noted that his country was leading initiatives aimed at re-launching the foundations for constructive dialogue between the DRC and Rwanda, to defuse the tension between the two neighboring countries.
The Summit of Heads of State and Government, which brought together leaders from the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (IC/GLR), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), comes on the heels of the 11th Extraordinary Summit of IC/GLR Heads of State, held in Luanda at the beginning of June.