African and European Heads of State and Government will gather for their 5th summit from November 29 to 30 November, 2017 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, to discuss the future of AU-EU relations, as well as investing in the youth.
Under the theme, “Investing in the youth for a sustainable future,” the meeting would mainly focus on job creation interventions for the benefit of the youth.
Job creation remains a crucial priority for the AU and EU as 60 percent of the African population is under the age of 25. The EU and AU recognise the security risks posed by high unemployment, and the two sides are expected to fashion out collaborative interventions to address the problem which has been partly aggravated in Africa by labour migration restrictions in Europe, and economic slowdown in the EU.
Other priorities to be discussed during the summit include peace and security, governance, human rights, migration and mobility investment and trade, skills development and job creation.
According to the organisers, 2017 is described as a defining year for AU-EU relations, ten years after the adoption of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy.
Taking stock of the progress made since the Brussels Summit in 2014, African and European leaders will be given the opportunity to provide political guidance to jointly address current and future challenges and deepen their strategic partnership, launched in 2007 with the adoption of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy.
According to a statement, this summit will build on a series of preparatory events aiming to bring the views of the key stakeholders of the partnership.
The events include Africa-EU economic and social actors’ forum, which concluded last week, EU-Africa business forum scheduled November 27, Africa-EU local governments’ forum, and parliamentary summit from November 27 to November 28.
By ADR Daily Newsdesk
