Decision on Multilateral Cooperation

DECISION ON MULTILATERAL COOPERATION

The Assembly,

1. On the Host Countries of Partnerships Summits and Events

1. ENDORSES the offer made by the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to host the 4th Africa-India Summit to be held in 2021 and REQUESTS the PRC in close collaboration with the Commission and India to agree on the date of the said Summit;

2. ALSO ENDORSES the offer made by the Republic of Tunisia to host the TICAD 8 Summit to be held in 2022;

3. ENCOURAGES Partners or designated host countries to ensure that statutory preparatory meetings (Senior Officials and Ministerial) are held at the same venue and immediately precede respective Partnership Summits as per Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.899 (XXVIII)Rev.2⁷, paragraph 19, of January 2016;

2. On Participation and Representation in Partnerships Statutory Meetings

4. RECALLS Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.1057(XXXIV) of July 2019 on the AU representation in partnership meetings which DECIDED to refer the item back to the PRC Sub-Committee on Multilateral Cooperation for further consideration with a view to reaching consensus regarding this issue, and Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.635(XXVIII), Paragraph 5) c) v) taken in January 2017, which states that: “Partnership Summits convened by external parties shall be reviewed with a view to providing an effective framework for African Union partnerships. Africa will be represented by the Troika, (namely the current, incoming and outgoing Chairpersons of the African Union), the Chairperson of the AU Commission, and the Chairpersons

of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as the Chairperson of NEPAD”, and Executive Council Decision EX.CLZ Dec.877(XXVII), (Paragraph 10), taken in June 2015, which “Reaffirms the right of all AU Member States to participate without discrimination in all meetings, activities and events organized within the framework of the partnership in which the AU is a stakeholder”;

5. REAFFIRMS the right of all AU Member States to participate in Statutory Meetings, related to partnerships between the African Union/African Continent and another Continent or Regional Organization;

6. DECIDES that African Union/African Continent shall be represented at the Statutory Meetings of partnership between the African Union/African Continent and a partner country by the Members of the Bureau of the Assembly of the Union, the Chairpersons of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Chairperson of the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) of AUDA-NEPAD and the Chairperson of the AU Commission;

7. FURTHER DECIDES that the internal preparatory process of the Statutory Meetings between the African Union/African Continent and a partner country shall be inclusive with the participation of all AU Member States;

8. DIRECTS the PRC in collaboration with the Commission to define the mandate for representatives in Statutory Meetings between African Union/African Continent and a partner country, for consideration by the Executive Council, in June/July 2020.

3. Africa - Arab Partnership

9. TAKES NOTE of the request of the League of Arab States to postpone the 5th Africa-Arab Summit from 2019 to 2020;

10. APPROVES the holding of the 5th Africa-Arab Summit on a mutually agreed upon date in 2020, and to be preceded by the preparatory Senior Officials and Ministerial Meetings, respectively, in line with Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.899(XXVIII)Rev.2, paragraph 20^s of January 2016;

11. ALSO TAKES NOTE of the launch of the preparatory process and REQUESTS the PRC in close collaboration with the Commission and the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States to develop the working documents of the 5th Africa- Arab Summit and to finalize the Draft Joint Africa-Arab Partnership Action Plan and its Financing Mechanism for consideration by the 5th Africa-Arab Summit.

4. Africa-Turkey Partnership

12. TAKES NOTE of the request of Turkey to postpone the 3rd Africa-Turkey Summit from 2019 to 2020, and the proposal by Turkey to hold the Summit on 20 April 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey;

13. DIRECTS the PRC in close collaboration with the Commission and Turkey to propose new dates starting in 2021, for the hosting of the 3rd Africa-Turkey

⁸Decision No.: EX.CL/Dec.899 (XXVIII) Rev.2 of January 2016 (paragraph 20): “APPROVES a five (5) year cycle and to organize two (2) partnership meetings per year as from 2017 for all Strategic Partnerships and REQUESTS the Commission to adopt its gradual implementation taking into

Summit, in line with Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.899 (XXVIII)Rev.2, paragraph 20⁸ of January 2016.

5. Africa - India Partnership

14. WELCOMES the proposal of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to postpone to 2021 the 4th Africa-India Summit;

15. DIRECTS the PRC in close collaboration with the Commission, India and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to propose suitable dates for the 4th Africa-India Summit, in 2021, and to commence preparation for the Summit as soon as possible.

6. AU - EU Partnership

16. APPROVES the dates of 4 to 5 May 2020 for the Senior Officials Meeting and the 2nd AU-EU Ministerial Meeting, respectively, to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, and DIRECTS the PRC, in close collaboration with the Commission, the Republic of Rwanda and the European Union (EU), to commence preparations as soon as possible;

17. ALSO DIRECTS the PRC, in close collaboration with the Commission, to work closely with the European Union for timely preparations for the 6th AU-EU Summit, to be held in 2020 in Europe.