On 14 February, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to the African Union (AU) and Head of UNOAU, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga received the newly appointed Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, Darren Welch, accompanied by the Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the AU, Madeleine Garlick. The Representatives discussed the AU’s priorities for 2023 and the upcoming AU Summit. The SRSG UNOAU noted that the Summit was likely to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the financing of AU Peace Support Operations as well as the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). He said the Summit would convene side events to discuss the crisis in Libya and the Sahel. The SRSG reiterated UNOAU’s commitment to collaborate with the United Kingdom in support of the implementation of the AU priorities for 2023 within the context of the UN-AU partnership framework.