Angola’s head of State warns of new Covid-19-related stressors Dakar – Angolan president João Lourenço did not rule out the possibility of emerging new tensions factors in the world caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which are likely to give rise to conflicts.
João Lourenço drew the attention when delivering his address at 8th Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, held in the capital of Senegal, Dakar on Monday.
He said he believed that the pandemic had worsened poverty levels on the continent and exponentially increased the likelihood of the emerging of the new factors of stressors.
The President of Republic recalled that, on the African continent, the fight against poverty and the programmes that were being implemented had to be postponed and could no longer rely on the resources previously available, as they had been channeled to fight against Covid-19 and to the mitigation of its effects.
He called for the need to face the situation with objectivity and seeking solution based on the rational and responsible use of available resources, in order to prevent the malicious use of these difficulties by adverse forces.
He is of the view that it seems much more complicated and difficult to repair, in the context of the structural weaknesses existing on the continent, the damage that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused to the economies of African countries.
He said it was “quite clear” that, in the current post-Covid circumstances, there is a worsening of economic and social conditions, “whose effects on the lives of our populations are not negligible”.
João Lourenço said he believed that nothing led him to believe that a new problem with global repercussions could arise so quickly after Covid-19 that had such a dramatic impact on the impoverishment of African families, due to difficulties in accessing agricultural inputs and fundamental food goods, caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
As an integral part of this global world, he said, “we stand for not only peace and security for our continent, but universal peace and security.”
He reiterated that Angola backs peace in the Middle East, the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, as well as the negotiated and peaceful resolution of the conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Angola also defends the need to reach an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations to put a full end to the war in Ukraine, he said.
Food insecurity and climate change
To Angolan head of state, food security on the continent must also deserve attention in view of its importance in peace and stability.
The scarcity of food and water for human consumption “has several causes that our governments seek to overcome with different projects and programmes”, he noted.
However, he continued, the severe drought in some regions of the continent causes real humanitarian catastrophes, as happens seasonally in some countries of the Sahel, in Somalia and part of Kenya, to name just these.
Prolonged drought leads to extreme poverty, the loss of livestock that is sometimes the only source of wealth for populations, he said.
He added that extreme poverty “is a fertile field for human traffickers, prostitution and illegal emigration to Europe or even to feed the ranks of fundamentalist movements that cause instability and foment terrorism on the continent”
“We cannot give up in the face of the consequences of climate change and its consequences on populations, on economies, which have a negative impact on the peace and security of our countries”, he warned
Source: Angola Press News Agency