The Addis Ababa Office of the Baha’i International Community (BIC AAO) expanded its engagement across the African region and beyond over the course of 2023, through a variety of initiatives and efforts. 

Of particular note, the Office continued its ongoing conversation series, “Pan-Africanism and Youth: Africa is Awakening.” The fourth installment of the series, exploring the theme “Why We Must Lay Our Hope on the African Union,” took place August 19 and featured keynote speaker William Carew, Head of Secretariat at the African Union ECOSOCC. 

Mr. Carew expressed appreciation for the event’s focus on strengthening global institutions according to the principle that the world is one country and humankind its citizens. In prepared remarks, he touched on the history and objectives of the African Union (AU) and highlighted some of its more notable achievements, such as instituting the largest free trade area in the world. 

Engagement with the African Union was central to the BIC AAO’s work. It was invited, for example, to contribute to an evaluation of the first 10 years of implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063—an event held 26 September in Addis Ababa. The meeting was a High-Level one-day dialogue bringing together AU member states, the AU Commission, Regional Economic Commissions, civil society representatives, and other stakeholders to discuss issues relating to democracy, good governance, human rights, and peace and security in Africa.

The  BIC AAO contributed to discourses on a range of thematic issues over the past year, attending and speaking at various gatherings across the continent, often in partnership with representatives of national Baha’i communities. 

Representative Solomon Belay, for example, attended the Africa Food Systems Forum, held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, September 5-8, along with two representatives from the Tanzanian national Baha’i community’s External Affairs Office. Prior to that event, a joint statement, developed in collaboration with the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community, was released on the occasion of the meeting of the AU and European Union Ministers of Agricultures in Rome, entitled “Just, sustainable and resilient food systems: Some considerations for the AU-EU partnership”.

The equality of women and men was another long-standing focus that the BIC AAO advanced this year. The Office released a short video entitled Women in Peace, exploring the important role to be played by women in advancing peace-building processes.

“The full participation of women in all spheres of society is required, especially in leadership roles,” said Belay, adding, “The capacity of women to foster cooperation and inclusion is essential to efforts aimed at resolving conflict.”

Interfaith activities were another key element of the Office’s activities. Along with representatives of the Public Relation Office of the South African Baha’i community, the BIC AAO took part in the “Faith Change Makers – Affirming Human Dignity, Justice, and Freedom for All” convention, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 4-6. The Office was also pleased to be formally confirmed as a member of the General Assembly of the African Union Interfaith Dialogue Forum.

In some cases the BIC AAO’s efforts extended beyond the shores of Africa. Mr. Belay was a featured speaker at the 2023 SDG Summit event "Inspiring Faith, Hope, and Transformative Action to Accelerate Progress Towards the SDGs," held in New York City on 18 September.  The event was hosted by the Trilateral Partnership of Regional Faith-based Networks for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, in collaboration with the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development. Mr. Belay’s presentation focused on Baha’i contributions toward making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and taking action to combat climate change (Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 13, respectively). 

Mr. Belay was also invited to attend the 8th meeting of the EU-Africa Economic and Social Stakeholders' Network that took place in Brussels, Belgium, on 28-29 June 2023, at Europe Economic Social Committee premises, with the participation of African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council. The theme of the meeting was the AU-EU partnership for a sustainable future. It was another opportunity for BIC AAO to call attention again to a previous statement that stated “the principle of the oneness of humanity as the bedrock of a sincere and mutually beneficial relationship between both partners.”