Foreign Affairs Minister Takes Part in AU Executive Council Ordinary Session
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Mauritanians Abroad, Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, participated, Wednesday via videoconference, in the work of the thirty-eighth session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU), whose work continues for two days in Addis Ababa.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister explained that the meeting is taking place in specific circumstances where the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing in intensity with its second wave, and the emergence of new variants and mutations of the virus, one of which is from our African continent, which has resulted in a high number of infections and increasing death rates across the continent and around the world. Such a situation portends difficult times, as it did over the past year and could continue this year.
He praised the determination and strong will that characterized the action of the organization’s structures and their wise leadership of efforts to respond to the pandemic in Africa, as well as the important role played by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed called for endowing the African Working Group to work on providing vaccines to the populations of our continent as quickly as possible and in sufficient quantity, by focusing on vaccines adapted to our health structure and our income.
In this context, he referred to what His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, underlined in several speeches, namely the need for the solidarity with African countries by demanding the cancellation of the debts of the poorest countries to help them cope with the catastrophic effects of the pandemic on their already depleted economies.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Mauritanians Abroad appreciated the considerable efforts made by the African Union to boost the initiative ‘Silencing the Guns’, noting that despite the circumstances of the pandemic, many conflicts were resolved, which led to the adherence to the initiative, which represents the voice of wisdom and reason that must remain high to lay the foundations for peace and stability throughout the African continent.
He congratulated the African countries which have launched the African Continental Free Trade Area, which will strengthen bilateral trade exchanges, and support the principle of economic integration.
The minister said that Mauritania supports the position expressed in the report of the commission on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East and appreciates the role that the African Union has always played in supporting the just Palestinian cause.
He reaffirmed Mauritania’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people and their right to an independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, calling on the international community to seek to stop the ongoing colonization and annexation operations which make peace impossible.
He stressed that Mauritania supports the proposal of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to make “building resilience in the field of nutrition across the African continent” a theme for 2022, noting that our country is looking forward to the day when our continent will announce having achieved food self-sufficiency and its victory over hunger and disease.
Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the Commission restructuring plan is of great importance, given the repercussions of its success on the Union status, calling for the acceleration of the implementation of this process so that the Union has all the elements and capacities to enable it to play the role assigned to it in an efficient and professional manner.
He added that an important step in the selection of candidates to fill new positions had been made following an approach centered on competitiveness, competence, and professional experience, calling for the application of this approach by adopting the principle of rotation and giving the opportunity to candidates from countries that have not held these leadership positions in the past, in order to establish the principle of participation and rotation in African positions among the countries of the continent.
Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed indicated that Africa has suffered greatly from colonialism’s attempt to tarnish African culture to perpetuate its subordination. He noted that the continent’s history was subject to much distortion for having been written by others, noting that the time has come to dust off African civilization, value its heritage, rewrite its history by African hands and adopt an ambitious strategy to materialize the theme chosen this year: “Arts, culture and heritage: incentive to build the Africa we want” so that it serves as a solid basis for an African take-off confident in the future.
In addition to the Minister, the meeting was attended by Ms. Khadijetou Mint M’bareck Fall, delegate of our country to the African Union, Mr. Mohamed Lemine Moulaye Ely, Ambassador Director General of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Mauritanians Abroad, and Mr. Mamoudou Bal, Ambassador, Director in charge of the African Union and Regional Organizations at the same ministry.