What Global Summits Teach Us: Reflections from the EU–AU Summit in Luanda

Blog by CIPR International Committee member, Omotola Akindipe. Omotola is an external relations professional in the UN system, Omotola has more than 10 years of experience in interagency coordination and communications. Currently, he leads the External Relations team for WHO in Angola with a focus on partnerships, reporting, donor relations and communications. Omotola is trilingual (English, Portuguese, and German) and has vast international experience having worked in several European and African countries.

As communications and external relations professionals, we often talk about “being at the table,” but the truth is that seeing the table is just as important.

Last week, I had the opportunity to join Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the World Health Organization delegation at the 7th European Union-African Union (EU–AU) Summit in Luanda, Angola which was a front-row seat to diplomacy and a powerful reminder of why communicators must accompany leaders into these high-level spaces.

For PR professionals working in global environments, events like this are masterclasses in real-time political communication. You witness how heads of state frame priorities, how different narratives compete for attention, and how tone, symbolism and context shape diplomatic messaging. Understanding what captures leaders’ imaginations is important for anyone advising institutions with a global footprint.

Leaders of the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) member states met in Luanda, Angola, from 24-25 November, for the seventh EU-AU summit under the theme ‘Promoting peace and prosperity through effective multilateralism’.

This year’s summit marked 25 years of AU–EU partnership and coincided with Angola’s 50th independence anniversary. Under the theme “Promoting Peace and Prosperity through Effective Multilateralism,” leaders from 82 countries gathered to address concerns relating to a world defined by volatility: conflicts from Sudan to Ukraine, economic uncertainty and intensified global competition.

The joint declaration reaffirmed a “unique and strategic partnership” between the continents and called for deeper cooperation on peace, trade, energy, digital transformation, climate action and migration. The tone was clear; multilateralism is a practical necessity for stability and shared prosperity.

Health featured prominently, with leaders agreeing to reform the global health architecture, strengthen pandemic preparedness, and expand local manufacturing of medical products, priorities vital for both continents' resilience. For WHO, being present ensured health remained integrated within broader political conversations often dominated by security, trade or migration.

For those of us working in global public health communication, attending such summits is strategic. It allows us to identify emerging narratives, anticipate policy shifts, craft timely advocacy, and ensure health equity remains visible in the geopolitical arena.

If diplomacy shapes the world, communications shape how the world understands it.

And summits like the one in Luanda remind us that effective international PR requires proximity to decision-makers, to context, and to the moments where history is negotiated.