“Dear friend… you reminded me in your last e-mail how some magazines once called us ‘The hopeless continent’, citing conflicts, hunger and malnutrition, disease and poverty as if it was a permanent African condition. Few believed that our pledge in the 50th Anniversary Declaration to silence the guns by 2020 was possible. Because of our first-hand experience of the devastation of conflicts, we tackled the root causes, including diversity, inclusion and the management of our resources. If I have to single out one issue that made peace happened, it was our commitment to invest in our people, especially the empowerment of young people and women.”

Agenda 2063: an e-mail from the future Presentation by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission