The 11th African Union (AU) Summit will be opened on Monday morning in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. The following is a brief introduction to previous AU summits:
The first summit was held from July 9 to 10, 2002, in South Africa's Durban just after the AU was formed to replace the Organization of African Unity.
From July 10 to 12, 2003, the second summit took place in the Mozambican capital Maputo. Its focus was the establishment of a new partnership between African countries, conflict reduction and AIDS prevention.
The third summit was held in Addis Ababa from July 6 to 8, 2004,with leaders of African countries vowing to reduce poverty by seeking integration and security.
The fourth summit, which took place in the Nigerian city Abuja from Jan. 30 to 31, 2005, focused on the Darfur crisis in Sudan, the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia's reconstruction and UN reforms.
Libya's Sirte hosted the fifth summit from July 4 to 5, 2005, which highlighted poverty reduction, the continent's integration, and the seeking of a common position on UN reforms.
The sixth summit took place from Jan. 23 to 24, 2006, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. At the summit, leaders of AU member states discussed cooperation in economy, culture and education, and how the AU could better cooperate with the UN.
The seventh summit, which was held in the Gambian capital Banjul from July 1 to 2, 2006, decided to suspend recognition of new regional economic communities on the continent, and to speed up construction in transportation, energy and other infrastructure.
The eighth summit was held in Addis Ababa from Jan. 29 to 30, 2007, taking science and technology promotion and climate change as its themes.
The ninth summit took place in the Ghanaian capital Accra from July 1 to 3, 2007, with the theme of "Grand Debate on the Union Government."
The 10th summit was held in Addis Ababa from Jan.31 to Feb. 2, 2008 under the theme "Industrial Development of Africa". Gabonese Jean Ping was elected as the new chairperson of AU Commission during the summit.