The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), during its meeting held on Friday at the level of Heads of State and Government, adopted the proposal of President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, aiming at creating a continental civil force to prevent disasters with a view to ensuring an effective and real-time response, and also to provide the necessary support to the affected African countries.
The proposal was presented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, who attended the meeting as the representative of President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Lamamra said that “African countries are among the most exposed to the growing risks of disasters and extreme climate phenomena,” stressing that “Africa, which is not responsible for the emergence and worsening of climate change, must make its voice heard at the upcoming UN Conference on Climate Change.”
“Hence, we must take into account recent experiences which have shown that responses in emergency situations are usually fragmented or very late, or even totally absent,” added the FM.
Representatives of the member states in the PSC welcomed the proposal of the President of the Republic, which was adopted unanimously, while instructing the AU Commission to begin preparations for the implementation of this very promising initiative, especially in view of the increase in the number of natural disasters and extreme weather phenomena on the continent.
The meeting, which took place via video conference, was chaired by President of the Republic of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and was marked by the high-level participation of the council’s member countries as well as representatives of the African Union (AU) Commission, the United Nations and the European Union (EU).
Source APS