Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
The Second Summit of the African Union

July 16, 2003

A summit assembly of the African Union (AU) was convened in Maputo, Mozambique from 10th to 12th of this month. This was the second Head-of-State level meeting after the first summit that gave birth to the AU in July last year.
The Japanese government conveyed the Message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the representatives at the meeting. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of Conflict and Refugee-Related Issues in Africa, attended the meeting as a representative of the government.
The conference appointed President Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique as the new AU President and former President Konare of Mali as the new Chair of the AU Commission. It agreed that the entry-into-force of the Protocol relating to the Establishment of Peace and Security Council as an urgent task and urged prompt work by countries that had not ratified it yet. The summit adopted the Declaration of the Implementation of the NEPAD that notes "with encouragement" the linkages by NEPAD with partners including Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). Other topics of the conference include wide-range of issues such as regional conflict situation and socio-economic problems.