By Louis Achi
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, would be leading a high level delegation from the country to the forthcoming 10th High-Level Seminar (HLS) on Peace and Security in Africa, scheduled to hold from 17th – l8th December 2023, in Oran, Algeria.
A statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant, Media and Communication Strategy, Alkassim Abdulkadir, Saturday, stated that in Iine with the established practice, this year’s high-level seminar on Peace and Security in Africa (the Oran Ministerial Process) will be chaired by H.E. Dr. Mamadou TANGARA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia, in his capacity as the Chair of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) for the month of December 2023.
As is customary, it is expected that this year’s Seminar would be attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 15 Member States of the AUPSC, as well as Ministers of the current, outgoing and incoming African Members of the United Nations Security Council! (with the exception of Gabon which is currently under AU suspension on grounds of unconstitutional changes of government).
The AU Commission is expected to attend the Seminar at the highest Ievel of Officials from the Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department and the AU Observer Mission to the United Nations.
Other dignitaries expected to participate at the seminar include senior government officials from host country Algeria, officials from the United Nations Headquarters and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
The event will also be attended by ambassadors and experts from each PSC and A3 Member State, Addis Ababa as well as partners and “Friends of the Seminar”
The High-Level Seminar is part of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the newly elected African Members of the UNSC fully understand Africa’s peace and security contexts as well as Africa’s positions on Afro-centric issues on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
Accordingly, the Seminar is an avenue for the current (Mozambique) and outgoing (Ghana and “Gabon which will not participate due to its current suspension by the AUJ African Members of the UNSC to share their experiences with the incoming African Members of the Security Council, namely Algeria and Sierra Leone.
Nine High-Level Seminars on Peace and Security in Africa have been organized thus far with each of the past sessions being deliberately organized just before the newly elected A3 Members assume their seats in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
This year’s session is also designed to follow the same approach. Being the 10th in the series of the High-Level Seminars, this year’s Oran process will be convened under the theme: “Celebrating 7O years of Progress and Cooperation: A Decade of Transformation and Innovation, Reaching new Heights Together”.
The event will be held in three segments namely the open, closed and closing segments.
Notwithstanding the three segments, the seminar will only be held in open and cIosed formats/sessions.
