Addis Ababa, October 23, 2026 (FMC) — African leaders, policymakers, distinguished delegates and security experts are arriving in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, as the 12th Tana High-Level Forum prepares to officially kick off today, bringing continental peace and security, governance and geopolitical transformations in the international system into focus.
The gathering is expected to feature diplomatic dialogue and strategic policy discussions on pressing regional challenges, alongside a series of side events examining conflict financing, climate-related security challenges and Africa’s role in shaping the evolving global order.
One of the side events, scheduled to take place in a few hours at the Blue Nile Resort in Bahir Dar, will examine how illicit financial flows sustain conflict in Sudan and South Sudan and how peace can be made more economically viable than violence.
The discussion will focus on conflict economies involving gold in Sudan and oil, cattle, taxation and charcoal in South Sudan, exploring practical ways to disrupt these financial flows and weaken the economic incentives that sustain violence.
Another side event, to be convened by the African Union Commission’s Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department (AUC PAPS) and GIZ’s African Union Office, will address the relationship between climate change, peace and security. The discussion will focus on practical, African-led responses that strengthen resilience and help sustain peace.
The forum’s programme also includes a Policy and Expert Roundtable on African agency, Article 109 of the United Nations Charter and the reform of multilateralism. The Tana Forum is organizing the roundtable alongside the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), Africa Amani and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung African Union Office (FES AU).
The roundtable will explore how Article 109 could provide a pathway to reviewing the UN Charter and reforming the multilateral system. Its organizers emphasize that most African countries were excluded when the Charter was drafted in 1945, arguing that a review presents an opportunity to address this historical exclusion and advance a fairer global order.
At a time of global disorder, the discussions are intended to examine how Africa can help shape the next world order while addressing the continent’s pressing peace and security concerns.
The planned sessions bring together questions of regional stability, conflict economies, climate resilience and Africa’s representation in international decision-making as the three-day forum gets underway.