World Bulletin / News Desk

New members of the Panel of the Wise, a consultative body of the African Union (A.U.), will take on duties in September, the A.U. said on Wednesday.

The new members were named by A.U. Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, during the latest African summit in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, in late June, the pan-African organization added in a statement on its website.

The panel's members are Lakhdar Brahimi, an Algerian who will represent North Africa; Edem Kodjo, a Togolese who will represent West Africa; Albina Faria de Assis Pereira Africano, an Angolan who will represent Central Africa; Luisa Diogo, a Mozambican who will represent Southern Africa, and Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe, a Ugandan who will represent Eastern Africa.

Dlamini-Zuma said she is confident that the new members of the panel would give additional momentum to efforts made by the organization to prevent conflicts and also advance its work.

"A.U. policy-making organs have, over the past few years, repeatedly emphasized the need for renewed efforts toward conflict prevention in Africa," Dlamini-Zuma was quoted as saying by the A.U. website.

The panel is a component of the African Peace and Security Architecture, which seeks to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts in the African continent.

The panel's appointed five members serve three-year terms. It is mandated to provide opinions to the Peace and Security Council, the decision-making body of the A.U., on issues related to conflict prevention, management and resolution.

The first Panel of the Wise was formed in December 2007.