Your Excellency, Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union,
Your Excellency, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
After several postponements, finally this important Extraordinary session of the African Union Humanitarian Summit is convened, coupled with the Pledging Conference.
It is a moment of intense emotion in view of the existential fragility of our Brothers and Sisters trapped in forced displacement, exile and statelessness for various reasons. They wait with anxiety and impatience for our generosity and our duty of humanity to alleviate their multiple sufferings.
I would like to thank the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, for the warm welcome and for the quality of the facilities in which our meetings have taken place since our arrival in Malabo.
I wish to solemnly commend the sterling record of the humanitarian activities he has carried out since 2019, the year in which his colleagues entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of the Champion of the theme of the year, devoted to Refugees, Returnees, Internally Displaced Persons and the search for lasting solutions to forced displacement in Africa.
I am pleased to see and welcome the presence of our Heads of State and Government, led by the Current Chairman of the AU. This is certainly an eloquent testimony to the level of attention given to humanitarian issues in Africa.
I salute the effective participation of the United Nations Secretary General, through his Representative, Mr Martin Griffins.
I express my gratitude to all our traditional and new partners, to all the participants, for their presence and their active commitment, which will soon be confirmed by their financial contributions.
Humanitarian emergencies in Africa, numerous, diverse and geographically dispersed, are a permanent source of concern. They are illustrated by figures and statistical data drawn up and compiled by the United Nations Specialised Agencies. I will limit myself to the general trends that emerge in the five Regions of the Continent.
In the 15 most affected Member States, 113 million people are waiting for emergency assistance in 2022.
East Africa and the Horn of Africa are currently hosting 4.5 million Refugees, more than 75% of whom have been affected by the reduction in food rations in 2021. Over the past two years, in this same Region, food requirements have increased by 70%, and more than 25 million people are in a situation of food insecurity.
In West and Central Africa, there are 58 million people in a state of food insecurity. This is the highest level of food insecurity since 2016. There are two million Internally Displaced Persons in Central Africa. This figure represents a 30% increase compared to 2020 and does not comprise the five million displaced persons in the Lake Chad Basin.
In North Africa, more than 14 million people need humanitarian assistance.
The picture is not bright. Far from it. It is further bleaked by two factors: on the one hand, the annihilation of refugee empowerment efforts by the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic and on the other hand, the pressure exerted on the planet earth in the name of the quest for economic growth and whose effects are reflected in Climate change manifested through prolonged drought and uncontrollable floods.
Mr. Chairman of the African Union,
Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
Faced with this nexus of difficulties, the African Union has developed normative and operational instruments to improve the living conditions of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons on the Continent. At the normative level, it is necessary to mention, among others and mainly, the Kampala Convention, adopted in 2009 and the related Declaration which specify the objectives and the modalities of action in favour of Refugees and other people forced to move. At the operational level, Regional Plans to manage Refugee crises have been put in place. For five years, the funds required for their operation have not exceeded the 50% bar. The first Donors' Conference, it should be recalled, was held 11 years ago, in 2011.
The paradox of humanitarianism lies in the discrepancy between the urgent nature of the situations of human distress to be taken care of and the poignant need to defer this care because of the lack of or insufficient financial resources.
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How can this painful gap be minimised?
By organising this Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit, followed by the Donors' Conference, the African Union demonstrates its firm determination to pursue its efforts to reduce the sufferings endured by Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons on the Continent.
I am delighted that our appeal to the Donors is in line with the concerns expressed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres. In his Report, published in September 2021, entitled Our Common Agenda, he stresses, among other things, the need to leave no one behind.
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
News has retained, history will remember, that on this day, in this beautiful city of Malabo, at this Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit of the African Union, the Heads of State and Government of Africa, reaffirmed and confirmed their constant determination not to leave behind any Refugee or Internally Displaced Person on our Continent.
It is with this solemn commitment that I would like to wish you fruitful deliberations.
I thank you for your kind attention.
