News: First China-Horn peace conference agrees to peaceful resolution of regional problems, combat terrorism, illegal arms among others

Addis Abeba – The First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference that took place in Addis Abeba between 20 -21 June concluded today.

According to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the participants of the conference “agreed to peaceful resolution of regional problems, jointly address natural disasters, and uphold a coordinated approach to combat cyber security, terrorism, illegal arms, and human trafficking, among others.”

The Conference was convened by China through its newly formed Horn of Africa Special Envoy’s office, and was attended by high-level government officials from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda. Xue Bing, the Chinese Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, was leading the Chinese delegation.

“The conference discussed regional peace, development, and governance in an atmosphere of unity, candor, pragmatism, and mutual respect, a joint statement issued by the parties indicated,” the Ministry said.

Before the conclusion, the Conference issued a joint in which the Horn of Africa countries “pledged to work together to maintain peace and security in the region.”

Participating countries also thanked China for “its strong relations with the region in investment, the building of development projects, and assistance in fighting Covid-19,” and called on the international community to increase accessibility and diversity of development financing and work together towards the peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, MoFA said. AS