The Ministers of EU and African Union meeting in Brussels: Our attendance

On the 23rd of May, 2025, the ministers of foreign affairs of all African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) member states met to commit to a join action during their bi-annual meeting at the European Council in Brussels.

 The agenda of the AU and EU ministers focused on four topics: 1) peace and security 2) prosperity and green transition 3) migration and mobility and 4) multilateralism.

The session was presided by Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, and the current chairperson of the AU, President of Angola Joao Lorenço, and the chairperson of the AU commission Mahamoud Ali Youssouf from Djibouti.

Our statement at the AU-EU Meeting

Our international director Sascha Gabizon was invited to deliver a report (1) from civil society and youth organizations, alongside the representative from the African Union’s youth envoy office, Sabina Nforba. The report came from a consultation the EU had organised the previous day.

In their joint statement (1), Sascha and Sabina called on the ministers to do everything in their power to end the horrific conflicts in the regions, in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Sudan, in DRC in particular, to ensure humanitarian aid, and to protect civilians, human rights defenders, journalists and civil society. Sascha highlighted the link between climate change and environmental destruction, and increasing conflicts and irregular migration, calling on ministers to invest in community-based sustainable solutions such as ecosystem restoration, and to address the address human trafficking and online exploitation.

Regarding the topic of prosperity, where we need green and circular development, she called to invest in a just energy transition, focusing on decentralized renewable energy for off-grid areas, supporting youth and women-led cooperatives and community-owned businesses, for example; for mini-grids and solar panels for agriculture (3).

Sascha also called on Ministers to keep supporting civil society and youth organisations with grant funding, and to not forget that decent work and gender equality make this world a better place.

Increasing youth and civil society involvement

It was the first time that civil society representatives were able to report their priorities at such a high-level session at the Ministerial EU-AU meeting. The official ‘communique’ (4) of the AU- EU meeting reflects the intention to increase civil society and youth engagement: it states in paragraph 38:

 “Ministers welcomed the role that Youth an Civil Society play in promoting the rule of law, democracy, human rights, stability and the achievement of the SDGs, and reaffirmed the importance of protecting and enabling civic space, including the work of human rights in compliance with international and national law. Ministers acknowledged the contributions by the Youth, Civil Society, Local Authorities and the Parliaments, and encourage all relevant stakeholders to continue to engage towards the AU-EU partners.”

Sascha and Sabina also spoke with the press assembled at the event, mostly from Africa, as well as with the German newspaper the Deutsche Welle (DW).

In preparation for the event, CONCORD, the network of development organisations in Europe, published its recommendations to the ministers (5), including a critical analysis of the role of the Global Gateway investments from the EU in Africa.

Sascha Gabizon delivered a powerful conclusion to the meeting:

 “It’s very positive that Ministers of AU and EU welcomed the contributions and important role of Youth, Civil Society organisations and Human Rights Defenders, and that – jointly with the representative from the AU’s Youth Envoy’s office – I was allowed to present the recommendations from our CSO-Youth forum, including on inclusive and gender just sustainable development, climate action, partnerships for legal migration and cooperation in science and education, and of course our strong call for immediate cease fires, protection of civilians and humanitarian aid in conflict zones in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan”

We look forward to regular participation of civil society, feminists and youth in the AU-EU partnership processes, including at the upcoming Heads of State summit to take place in Angola in November this year.

Resources

  1. For the full report of the youth and civil society meeting, visit here.
  2. For Sascha’s and Sabina’s full statement, see the video post from the African Union office here.
  3. For more information, visit here.
  4. The full version of the Ministerial communique can be found here.
  5. The CONCORD statement can be found here.