The 40th Ordinary Ministerial Session of AU kicks off today in Addis Ababa
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The 40th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council (Ministerial Session) of the AU has kicked off today (February 02) in Addis Ababa.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen and foreign Ministers of member states and representatives of international institutions have attended the opening session.
Delivering an opening speech at the session, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, covered critical issues that need the attention of the Union.
The Chairperson also spoke on efforts of the Commission in combating the Coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area and other pertinent issues.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, H.E. Vera Songwe, delivered a speech where she stressed on the need to build resilience to tackle manmade and natural challenges that Africa is facing today.
Recalling the recent sale of 11, 200 bags of Ethiopian coffee in just 2 seconds in an online Chinese market, she emphasized that African states should strive to exploit the cyberspace to benefit people working on small scale and medium level businesses.
The session will be held for two days under the theme, ‘Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development.’
The ministers will deliberate different agenda items, including a progress report on the Covid-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact on African economies and the operationalization of (CDC), Africa Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
The session will also deliberate the election of (15) Members of the Peace and Security Council and a female Vice President of the Pan African University (PAU) Council.
