New York – The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Esmeralda Mendonça on Tuesday said at the UN headquarters in New York that Angola is monitoring the peace and security situation in Africa with concern, in particular the spread of terrorism and violent extremism in certain regions.
Esmeralda Mendonça was speaking at the thematic session on “The global threat scenario: Assessment of current and emerging trends”, within the framework of the 3rd United Nations High Level Conference for Heads of Agencies of Member States for Combating Terrorism.
The Secretary of State stressed that the situation compromises the implementation of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the continent.
From the perspective of Esmeralda Mendonça, terrorism constitutes a great challenge to international peace and security, as it represents one of the most dangerous existential threats for any country.
“For the mitigation of its risks, we consider fundamental the promotion of good governance, the fight against corruption, the strengthening of State institutions and the establishment of early warning systems”, she underlined.
In this regard, Esmeralda Mendonça emphasized that Angola defends the pertinence of implementing the decisions of the 16th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in 2022, under the proposal of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
She reiterated that the Malabo Assembly aimed to analyse the causes and adopt measures to prevent and combat these scourges, reaffirming also the need for adequate, sustainable and predictable financing of initiatives to combat terrorism in Africa.
The Angolan official called on the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, to use statutory contributions to Peace Support Operations (PAO) mandated by the AU, in order to intensify efforts to combat terrorism and promote the “Africa that We want”.
The 3rd United Nations High-Level Conference of Counter-Terrorism Heads of Agencies of Member States serves as a platform for Member States, United Nations entities, International and Regional Organizations, Civil Society, the Academic and Private Sector, exchange information, experiences and best practices and explore further cooperation.
Combating Terrorism Week is a biennial meeting of Member States and international partners in the fight against terrorism.
UN Global Strategy against Terrorism
The UN General Assembly adopted, by consensus, the UN Global Strategy against Terrorism on 8 September 2006. The said mechanism is a unique global instrument to enhance national, regional and international efforts to combat terrorism. SC/DOJ
