"As you do for Ukraine, support ECOWAS with resources in the fight against terrorism." Akufo-Addo to the US, UK, and EU
President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged world leaders to fully implement the requirements of Chapters Seven and Eight of the UN Charter and provide Africa's battle against terrorism and violent extremism appropriate support.
Despite the significant economic challenges facing ECOWAS Member States, according to President Akufo-Addo, 11 of the 15 ECOWAS Member States, with the exception of the four military-led States, have expressed their willingness to confront terrorists if given the necessary resources.
"They claim that comparisons are hateful, but some cannot be avoided. According to my research, the United States has contributed around US$73.6 billion to Ukraine's support, the European Union and its institutions have contributed US$138.8 billion, and other nations have also contributed money.
The President said, "On the other hand, the security assistance from the US, the EU, and the UK to ECOWAS have, in total, in the same period, amounted to US$29.6 million."
He was certain that the terrorists "can be chased out of West Africa and the Sahel too" with the proper amount of help to ECOWAS. There would be no need for outside forces. The job can be done by West African troops. An effective example of indigenous self-help is the Accra Initiative.
On Thursday, October 12, 2023, in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., President Akufo-Addo announced this while speaking on "Democracy and Security in West Africa" at the United States Institute of Peace's Programme on Governance and Peace.
The President stated that "the terrorists, as we all know, were chased out of the Middle East and Afghanistan before taking refuge in Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, from which they fled across the Sahara to find refuge in northern Mali after Gaddafi's downfall." This was his explanation for the rise of terrorists in West Africa.
Since then, they have "spread their poisonous influence eastward and southward, with the coastal states of West Africa their ultimate destination," he said.
President Akufo-Addo, who has served as the chairman of ECOWAS for two terms, cited rising rates of population displacement in many Sahelian regions as a result of the insecurity caused by armed groups when he said that "Africa has become the centre of attraction for terrorist groups that are multiplying in the region, following defeats suffered in other parts of the world."
Despite the clear gains, he claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic's disproportionate impact on developing nations had, regrettably, "put several nations and regional organisations, notably those in the Sahel, in extremely precarious economic situations. The difficulties we confront in mobilising resources to battle terrorists in our own backyards have been made worse by this.
The President said, "We have, essentially, run out of time to work together in the spirit of multilateralism," which is why we are concentrating on this and the threat to democracy in the region.
"If we do not renew our commitments to build, keep, and consolidate peace and democracy throughout the world, we would have to brace ourselves to live in a new and more dangerous world today and in the future," he continued.
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