UN chief, WHO Director General to attend 33rd AU summit

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will attend the upcoming 33rd ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), said an Ethiopian official.

Speaking to Xinhua on Tuesday, Gisila Shawel, Acting Chief of Protocol, Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said the two leaders will be among dozens of high-level officials that will attend the AU summit which will be held from January 21 to February 10 at the headquarters of the 55-member pan-African bloc in Ethiopia''s capital Addis Ababa.

The AU summit is expected be held under the theme of "Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development".

The 33rd session of the AU heads of states has been slated to take place from February 9 to 10, and it will be preceded by the 36th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council, which comprises ministers of AU member states, from February 6 to 7.

"Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg as well as 31 African Heads of States are expected to attend the AU summit," Shawel told Xinhua.