As the global community seeks to address the current crises in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, African Development Bank Group's High Level Panel on Fragile States launches its final report, "Ending conflict and building peace in Africa: A call to action".*

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Chair of the High Level Panel on Fragile States, and Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank Group, will jointly launch the report and address African Heads of States at the forthcoming 22nd African Union Summit on Thursday, January 30, 2014 in Addis Ababa. The report, which comes at a critical time in Africa as new crises and conflicts emerge, not only addresses the challenges experienced by fragile countries, but also makes recommendations to the African Development Bank, the international communities as well as local governments on how to steer countries away from fragility and toward stability and sustainability.

This final report by the High Level Panel on Fragile States is the result of almost a year of country consultations, reviews of emerging trends in conflict and fragility, as well as discussions with key partners and regional economic communities (RECs).

The High Level Panel on Fragile States maintains that peaceful transitions in Africa call for urgent attention to youth employment, safe urban and rural communities and sharing of natural resources wealth. It also calls for a concerted and consolidated effort by all partners and countries to increase their efforts to address drivers of fragility and promote regional integration and creative public-private partnerships to manage Africa's transitions peacefully.

The High Level Panel also recommends that the African Development Bank increase its commitment to support AU leadership on political and security transitions and governance standards, in partnership with the RECs, the United Nations, IFIs, regional and non-regional providers of assistance and civil society.

*Following the January 30 launch, a downloadable version of the full report will be available at: High Level Panel on Fragile States

For media information, please contact:

Jennifer Patterson, Principal Communication Officer, African Development Bank Group, tel. +216 71 10 1638 (Tunis), mobile +251 939 859 635 (Addis Ababa - January 26-31, 2014);

Dawn Leibrandt, Communications Consultant, High Level Panel Secretariat, tel. +27 (0) 82 838 4192 (Johannesburg); mobile +251 939 859 634 (Addis Ababa - January 21-31, 2014);