AU Summit: 140 million collected to deal with humanitarian crises

In CAR, the crisis is both security and humanitarian.

Here, displaced Muslims at PK5.

REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The day dedicated to humanitarian crises ended Friday evening at nightfall in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

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With our special correspondent in Malabo,

Throughout the day, the speeches of the Heads of State focused on the causes of the multiple challenges facing the continent.

Among these challenges are humanitarian crises, the root causes of which are armed conflicts.

Added to this today, terrorism, violent extremism, climate change and their corollaries prolonged floods and drought.

A set of factors that often cause population displacements.

To curb these challenges, governments and donors have renewed their commitment to the cause by putting their hands in their pockets.

Advocacy and sensitization of partners have made it possible to make a good financial harvest of 140 million dollars out of a need of 14 billion dollars to take care of displaced persons and refugees. 

From the podium, the Commissioner of the African Union for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Minata Samaté Sessouma, does not retain her emotion and her satisfaction: " 

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Satisfaction also for the host of the summit, Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbassogo.

He insisted on quickly implementing the decisions of the summit.

Among these, the operationalization of a pan-African humanitarian agency.

Security crisis, terrorism: how to break the vicious circle?

This Saturday opens a second summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Malabo on terrorism, violent extremism and unconstitutional changes of government.

Why this summit and what to expect?

It is very clear that over the past two or three years, our continent has had to deal with the impact of terrorism, violent extremism, unconstitutional changes of governments, complex political transitions, and of course the impact of a pandemic on our countries and our peoples.

So this is an opportunity to strengthen and reshape our strategic approach with the aim of making things better.

As for the Sahel... Unfortunately, the Sahel is the hotbed from which terrorism is spreading.

So it is important for us to ensure that this summit lays the foundations for Africa's survival.

Because our continent cannot survive in the current state, with the current state of terrorism, violent extremism or unconstitutional changes of government.

This must be stopped.

And a country alone cannot do it.

It has to be a collective effort.

So that we finally have a robust collective response and make a collective commitment to deepen democracy.

Bakonlé Adéoyé, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security

For its part, Human Rights Watch calls on leaders to make the link between legal instability and security crisis, and especially to fight against the impunity of the security forces which often accompanies the military response to terrorist groups, and serves them, in doing so, means of recruitment.

Burundian Carine Kaneza Nantulya is the Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

She explains the point of view of the NGO.

We note that the atrocities committed appear to have been committed in retaliation and that there is no justice for the victims [...] The absence of justice, the cycles of impunity, the deterioration of rule by right [...], these grievances lead quite a few civilians to join the ranks of jihadists and armed groups.

And the jihadists have understood this, they will feed these grievances so that they serve as narratives.

Carine Kaneza Nantulya

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• Equatorial Guinea

• African Union