????????????????????????’???? ????????????????????’???? ????????????.“Invest in Education: Securing the Future of Women and Girls in Africa.” Gender equality and empowerment cannot be achieved without the equal, complete, and effective participation of women and young people at all levels of decision-making. Africa has continued to make significant strides in pursuing ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? and ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? in the political sphere and in public and private sectors. African policy-makers and high-level decision-makers have become increasingly sensitized to ensuring that women’s voices and contributions are heard and integrated into policy-making at the national level. I would like to recognize and commend the demonstrable efforts of our member states in progressively improving women’s representation in all arms of government. The increasing degrees of gender representation have led to greater legitimacy of our governments and the quality of their decision-making. As this trend increases across our continent, we will live to be witnesses of the ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? in civic affairs.????️H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson, African Union Commission