From AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja

Following the perennial insecurity bedevilling Africa and Europe, the European Union (EU) and the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, have taken a step to identify new ways to address the malaise.

The Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in a statement made available to Daily Sun in Abuja, said the EU, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and partners will seek to identify new ways to address the recurring and evolving peace and security challenges in Africa and Europe together at a peace and security conference taking place in Abuja.

The forum, according to the EU, is organised in preparation for the Africa Union-European Union Summit to be held on 29-30 November, 2017, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

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The Conference, the EU further said, “will address three key issues: Responding to the recurring threat of violent conflicts and escalation of violence; addressing the structural and more deep-seated root causes of conflict before they turn violent; and how to involve youth and mainstream their issues in preventing, managing, and resolving crises and promote peace and security in Africa and Europe.”

“Africa experiences quite a number of complex security challenges, which are intertwined with the European Union’s own security in different ways. The connections between Libya and the Sahel, between the Horn of Africa and the Gulf, between maritime security and coastal communities, are all very evident.

“Both the African Union and the European Union are responding to these challenges and the AU-EU Summit will provide an opportunity to ensure that our responses reinforce and complement each other and provide durable solutions. The Summit, which has as its core theme “Investing in Youth for a Sustainable Future” will tackle this theme from a variety of perspectives – governance, investment, energy, and migration. But it will examine all these in the context of peace and security,” the EU said.