An Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit and Pledging Conference held on May 27 and 28 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, by African leaders to address the current humanitarian challenges that Africa is facing, and that are exacerbated by the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and disasters across the continent, identify durable solutions to address the current humanitarian challenges especially of humanitarian financing and those that contribute to post-conflict recovery, peace and development.
The two-day conference, by the African Union and hosted by the Government of Equatorial Guinea, was also part of marking the 20th year of the transformation of the Organization of Unity to African Union, and significantly to deliberate effective ways in resolving the emerging propblems confronting the continent within the context of the current changes and in a new era of global cooperation.
At the conference, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, stressed the significance of the gathering and highlighted details of the humanitarian issues that really needed concrete financial solutions from member states and international organizations.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, in his speech, illustrated figures and statistical data drawn up and compiled by the United Nations specialised agencies, based on the general trends that emerge in the five regions of the continent, there are 15 most affected member States, 113 million people urgently waiting for emergency assistance in 2022. These are refugees, returnees, internally displaced persons in Africa.
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,” Faki Mahamat explained.
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.
In his speech, Macky Sall, Chairman of the African Union and President of Senegal, also undoubtedly, discussed the scale and persistence of humanitarian emergencies on the continent – emergencies linked to climate change, natural disasters and terrorist attacks which have become endemic in certain countries but also emergencies linked to armed conflicts.
According to the 2021 United Nations Global Humanitarian Overview report, six of the largest crises with alarming humanitarian consequences are in Africa, with more than 30 million internally displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers.
The FAO, for its part, counts in its 2021 Report on the state of food security in the world 282 million people in a situation of undernourishment in Africa. The sad fate of these millions of people, men and women of all ages, destitute and without hope – this challenges humanity.
“It reminds us of our responsibility to take the evil by the root, by prophylaxis of tensions, by attacking the root causes of humanitarian situations; because prevention is better than trying to cure,” President Sall said.
Macky Sall passionately called for laying down military arms, to engage in dialogue to settle our differences peacefully, the culture of rejection to embrace care that repairs social fragilities by relieving those who suffer from hunger, disease and poverty, empahsized access to power by peaceful means and to agree on spaces for dialogue and consultation for a peaceful exercise of power, and an inclusive development, following the principles of social justice, so that each citizen feels heir to a part of the national resources.
“We cannot dream of a better future when the poverty of some leaves others indifferent. The state must constantly serve as a lever to give confidence to those who think they are right to doubt and lose hope. In return, the State and the institutions that embody it deserve respect and protection from all, the Senegalese leader Sall stressed.
When the state is in danger, when it is destabilized in any way, the foundations of living together falter to make way for chaos. The scourge of terrorism calls for a more substantial mobilization of member states, according to new methods of intervention, transcending traditional peacekeeping operations which have shown their limits.
The State of Africa’s Climate 2020, published under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, predicts that by 2030, 118 million Africans are at risk of being in a situation of extreme poverty, under the combined effect of rising sea levels, floods, drought and other associated phenomena.
In a way, it is anticipated these forecasts by having set up in 2012 the Group of the Pan-African Risk Management Mutual, African Risk Capacity (ARC). The AU aims at helping African countries to anticipate and manage natural disasters through a risk financing mechanism. It thus contributes to improving the planning, preparation and response capacities of member states in the face of disasters, including the effects of climate change.
Bearing in mind the repeated demands of the African Union, it has become necessary to save and support vulnerable populations. With human and natural resources, with the strength, talent and creativity of the youth, African continent owe future generations. The participants rallied around collaorative pledges and commitments to the humanitarian situation from governments and international organizations and a broad set of stakeholders, and finally followed by making a joint declaration.
Participated in the conference are Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; Madam Aisha Buhari, President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission; and Martin Griffins who represented the Secretary General of the United Nations.
By organizing the Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit, followed by the donors’ conference, the African Union demonstrated its firm determination to pursue its efforts to reduce the sufferings endured by refugees and internally displaced persons on the continent. It reviewed the Malabo Declaration on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa. The AU, however, expressed deep satisfaction with the unique concerns byAntonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
