Nairobi — Former President Uhuru Kenyatta is in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in preparation for the 15th High-Level Retreat focused on promoting peace, security, and stability in Africa.

The retreat convened by the African Union (AU) Commission will focus on the Impact and Sustainability of AU Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation in addressing conflicts across the continent.

The Recess, will be opened by Côte d'Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara, and African Union chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.

During these two days, policymakers and decision-makers will reflect on the various preventive diplomacy, mediation, and dialogue efforts that the AU is currently leading or supporting.

it will also focus on strengthening existing formal and informal preventive diplomacy mechanisms, like the Panel of the Wise, to ensure they can effectively respond to emerging threats to political stability.

The summit will provide the opportunity to reflect on and review the AU's mediation strategies and preventive diplomacy efforts, with the view of determining their impact, suitability, and effectiveness in the current context of evolving conflicts in the African continent.

Additionally, there will be insights and learning on emerging policy and practice in mediation and preventive diplomacy that can inform the Commission's engagements under its next senior leadership.

The event will bring together the AU Commission leadership and its partners to reflect on ways to prioritise conflict prevention and mediation while ensuring inclusivity, strengthen UN-AU-RECs/RMs cooperation in addressing conflicts, ensure coherence and complementarity, and leverage each institution's comparative advantage to prevent, manage, and resolve conflicts in Africa.