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Second Summit
Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum

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Open Hearts of Women from Russia and Africa

The first Russian-African started  on the 24th  June 2023. Women's Forum has put together more than 120 participants at the venue of the Women’s Union of Russia (6 Glinischevsky Lane, Moscow).

Forum organizers: African International Congress; Afrocom International Foundation; African Institute of Eurasian International University; Council for International Humanitarian Cooperation and Public Diplomacy and the Women’s Union   of Russia.

Greetings to the Forum participants were sent by Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma. The greeting was read by Svetlana Zhurova, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.  The Greeting by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was read by Maria Zakharova, Director of the Department of Information and Press the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Chairman of the Women’s Union  of Russia Ekaterina Lakhova opened the Forum and recalled the strong friendly ties between the Soviet Union and the countries of the African continent  which Russia is developing today. The women's community of our country is ready to do everything to strengthen peace and harmony. Ekaterina Lakhova concluded her speech by congratulating our African friends on the upcoming World African Women's Day on the 31st of  July

The Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Yevgeny Primakov welcomed the audience and stressed that the Federal Agency  pays lot of  attention to promoting the Russian humanitarian agenda, culture and education through it’s offices. Yevgeny Primakov wished the discussions at the forum to have the most possible pragmatic and practical agenda.

Maria Zakharova noted in her speech that Russia and African countries share many positive things and  first of all the desire for freedom, development, equality. "This point helps us to understand each other better... Russia is always open to those who have an open heart."

Speakers representing African countries at the plenary session spoke about the struggle for freedom, justice, and equal opportunities for people regardless of where they live. And each speech included words of gratitude to Russia for the support and assistance.

The forum program continued at the discussion sessions.

The moderator of the platform "People's Diplomacy" was the President of the International Eurasian University I.B. Ivantsov.   The session participants discussed an effective Russian-African partnerships  creation.

Professor L.V. Dugova, Candidate of Philological Sciences, the Coordinating Council Chairman of the Association of Teachers of Literature and Russian Language led the discussion at the “Culture and Education” section. Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation N.A. Prepodobnaya defined  a vector for promoting cultural and educational initiatives.

 

Another discussion platform was dedicated to supporting women's business and social entrepreneurship. The moderators were Eketering. Lakhova, the WOUR Chairman  and Elena Kalinina, Professor, Doctor of Political Science, Ambassador of St. Petersburg, Chairperson of the WOUR regional branch.

Russian women experience was received with  huge interest by the African participants who expressed the consensus opinion that it would be useful to their compatriots from different countries.

Discussion participants put forward interesting constructive proposals that will become the basis for building up prospects for the future cooperation.

The authoritative guests from African countries were awarded  by commemorative medals of  the Women’s Union  of Russia at the plenary session

The International Eurasian University awarded the title of "Honorary Doctor" to Ekaterina Lakhova, Chairman of the Women’s Union  of Russia  and to  three other WOUR activists Ekaterina Bogdasarova, Irina Drozdenko and Karine Khabirova at the conclusion of the event

"Dynamically changing world poses new challenges to the society. Women play an increasingly important role in addressing them. Your activity in the search for answers to the challenges of our time, your active participation in all spheres of life serve common interests and contribute to the maximum development of human potential.

The Forum was the  start to the development of new Russian-African women's relations. It  confirmed by an agreement between the Women’s Union  of Russia and the International Eurasian University signed by Ekaterina  Lakhova and Provost K.P. Klimenko.

The words of Auguste Ludovic Aimunchi, a Russian of African descent, sounded at the forum as a sign of trust in the success and unity of our plans: “I am grateful to destiny that I live here. Thank you Mother Russia!”

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI