Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema has launched the African Union's Champion's Report on Ending Child Marriage and the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has asserted that Africa holds the tools to drive its own economic transformation and must seize them.

Burundi’s President, Évariste Ndayishimiye, has been elected Chairperson of the African Union at the 39th Ordinary Summit of the continental body.

Ndayishimiye takes over the rotational AU chairmanship from Angola’s President, João Lourenço.

Uganda has pledged US $1 million to the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, to support its operations.

The announcement was made by Uganda’s Vice President, Jessica Alupo, during the 35th APRM Forum of Heads of State and 

Government at the African Union headquarters on Friday.

Africa must not be a battleground for competing interests but rather a partner of choice guided by principles, mutual respect, and shared prosperity.

African leaders are set to consider a draft Memorandum of Understanding between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities and the Regional Mechanisms on the utilisation of the African Standby Force.

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) has called for the immediate revocation of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will hold bilateral meetings on the margins of the African Union's 39th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state has drawn sharp reactions from the international community, with Somalia condemning the move as a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty.

The SADC Secretariat has been directed to engage strategic partners, such as the Indian Ocean Commission, the African Union, and the United Nations, over the political and security crisis in Madagascar. 

These engagements are to ensure coordinated and complementary interventions.