Egypt’s Foreign Minister headed his country’s delegation to Ethiopia on Wednesday to chair the activities of the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Foreign Ministers’ Executive Council. The two-day session is scheduled to be held on Thursday in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. It is in preparation for the 33rd two-day Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), scheduled to take place on Feb. 9. The 2020 AU summit is held under the theme, “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development.” Egypt will hand over the African Union presidency to South Africa after a year of many “successes for the continent on the political, economic, and security levels,” highlighted by Egyptian official reports. Since Feb. 10, 2019, Egypt has proven itself strong. It has shown remarkable interest in the continent’s issues by stimulating cooperation between Egypt and African countries in all fields, as well as hosting a number of conferences and forums on investment, economy, and security in the continent. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has also paid frequent visits to several African countries, which are considered top priorities of Egypt’s foreign policy. Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Counselor Ahmed Hafez said that Cairo, during its presidency of the AU, has cooperated with several African parties to achieve major goals, mainly economic and regional integration, social and economic development, security and peace, and the AU’s institutional and financial reform. It also worked on building bridges of cultural and civilizational communication among African peoples, as well as cooperation with the African continent’s international partners. Hafez explained that Executive Council meetings will discuss several topics, the most important of which are activities of the African Union and its organs and 2019’s theme, AU’s “Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa.” Shoukry is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with a number of his African counterparts on the sidelines of the meetings, Hafez noted, adding that these talks will tackle bilateral cooperation and African issues of common interest. Egypt’s State Information Service has listed the major successes achieved during Egypt’s AU presidency, including “Silencing the Guns” initiative, which was prepared by the AU’s Peace and Security Council, at Sisi’s request. The initiative aims at adopting specific mechanisms to end conflicts and wars on the continent by 2020 and deliver humanitarian aid to people affected by conflicts. It received the United Nations Security Council support.