Rabat – Morocco reaffirmed this week its continuous commitment to combat terrorism and other emerging threats across Africa during the two African Union Extraordinary Humanitarian Summits in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita held a series of talks with a number of his African counterparts within the framework of the AU summits.
Bourita also met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Head of Cameroonian Diplomacy, as well as with the President of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohamed Younes Al-Manfi.
The meetings focused on the need of consolidating bilateral relations in various fields of cooperation.
Representing King Mohammed VI at the two extraordinary AU Summits held between May 25 to 28, Bourita reiterated the Moroccan monarch’s vision for a united African response to the emerging humanitarian challenges.
The Extraordinary Summits come at a time when the African continent is facing several challenges, such internal armed conflicts, health and food insecurity, and climate breakdown.
The situation was further exacerbated by the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian crisis.
During this week’s AU summits, Bourita highlighted King Mohammed VI’s humanitarian commitment to the African continent, stressing that Morocco’s engagement “is based on an approach that integrates the multiple security, humanitarian, and ecological challenges facing Africa.”
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As Africa navigated the first, panic-stricken months of the pandemic, Bourita recalled, King Mohammed VI contributed to the continental management of the COVID-19 crisis by sending medical aid to 20 African countries.
Africa is projected to face more humanitarian crises in the coming years if African nations do not work out a collective response to climate-induced challenges and other pressing continental concerns across the continent, Bourita warned. The continent is “facing an emergency,” he commented, noting that there are nearly 36 million individuals who are internally displaced (IDPs), refugees, and asylum seekers across Africa.
“Of the nearly 60 million IDPs worldwide in 2021, more than 80% are in sub-Saharan Africa,” Bourita said, adding that “Africa will have some 86 million climate-displaced people by 2050.”
Food insecurity is also a major challenge in the continent. More than 282 million people are currently undernourished in Africa, and the Sahel alone is home to 18 million people who are at risk of hunger in the coming months, including 7.7 million children under the age of 5, detailed the chief Moroccan diplomat.
Bourita also mentioned the ruinous impact of political instability and armed conflicts on Africa’s development prospects, saying that the apparent return of military coups in Africa could mark an unfortunate “regression” in the continent’s democratic process.
As African countries brace themselves for the inescapable challenges ahead, he concluded, Morocco is more than ever ready to share its expertise in numerous sectors and assist its fellow African nations in tackling challenges such as food insecurity.
