It gives me pleasure, in my capacity as the African Union Champion for the dossier of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD), to announce the launch of the fifth edition of the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Awareness Week. The event will extend from November 17 to 23, 2025, under the theme: "Rebuilding Lives After Conflict Through Reparative Justice", with Cairo hosting the main functions of this year's edition.

Our African continent is encountering a multitude of intertwined security and developmental challenges. Those include internal conflicts, the spread of terrorism, transnational crime, humanitarian crises, poverty, and declining education rates. This occurs concurrently with other emerging challenges, such as climate change and the use of advanced technology. The continent is also at the forefront of those affected by the surrounding international conditions, which are characterized by polarization and competition. This further perpetuates the fragile conditions and the security and developmental challenges in the continent, thus negatively impacting genuine African efforts toward the implementation of the African Union's ambitious strategies and policies aimed at achieving stability, development, and prosperity for our African peoples, in line with Africa's Development Agenda 2063.

Despite these challenges, our African continent is abundant with immense potential, resources, and a massive human capital wealth. It has made significant strides towards leveraging these assets to foster peace, security, and development in its nations.

It is now imperative to strengthen solidarity and adopt comprehensive approaches that address the root causes of the challenges facing the continent. At the heart of this must be Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) and the activation of the relevant updated African Union policy in post-conflict settings. This involves working to rehabilitate institutions, support national ownership of solutions, build the capacities of citizens and personnel, raise awareness of the risks of conflict, drive comprehensive development efforts, and engage all sectors of society, primarily youth and women, in all these endeavors, while striving to achieve justice for the victims of conflicts.

The convening of the Fifth Edition of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development in October 2025 embodied the Egyptian vision aimed at reinforcing the nexus between peace, security, and development, including efforts in Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development.

In this context, I would like to commend the efforts of the African Union Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (AUC-PCRD) in Cairo for the programs and activities it has carried out over the past years in a number of African nations. Those are aimed at supporting their efforts toward stability and recovery from the effects of conflicts, building their national capacities, and raising awareness among their citizens. I look forward to the continuation and expansion of these efforts to realize the aspirations of the peoples of our cherished continent for enduring peace and security.

Finally, I must commend the efforts of the African Union Commission in supporting the implementation of reconstruction and peacebuilding activities across the continent. From the standpoint of my leadership of this agenda, I reaffirm my personal commitment to continue exerting every effort, in coordination with my fellow African leaders, the African Union Commission, regional stakeholders, and international partners, to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the continent's peoples and to achieve the goals of Africa's Agenda 2063.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

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