Leaders Should Maximize Efforts to Silence Guns across Africa

Addis Abeba  ENA   February  5/2020 African Union (AU) on Tuesday urged continental leaders to maximize efforts in finding real solutions for conflicts towards sustaining peace and stability across the continent.

As the leaders of African Union countries gather for summit in its headquarter in Addis Ababa at the weekend, they will deliberate on realizing a conflict-free Africa, which is the dream of Africans.

Advisor to the Commissioner of Peace and Security in Silencing the Guns at AU, Ambassador Osman Keh Kamara, told ENA that without ensuring peace, it is impossible to think of development.

Creating safe schools, institutions and universities is crucial to enable the coming generation benefit from peace, he said and calling African leaders to maximize their efforts in resolving the biggest continental challenge to realizing the aspirations of African people. 

According to the ambassador, the AU sees conflict as one of the major obstructions to the implementation of Agenda 2063 on the top of poverty, climate change and unemployment .

So, he said, African leaders should strive not to pass the encumber of conflict to the future generations and need to work on realizing a conflict-free continent.

Executive Director of Forum for African Women Educationalist, who’s also Chairperson of Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC), Martha Muhwezi on her part said, during the time of war, women, girls and children are affected in very drastic way.

She called upon African Head of States to put in place mechanism that ensures peace and security across the continent so that to make safe African women and children.

 “The solution is lies within our leadership and it is a responsibility of each and every person to resolve conflicts,” Muhwezi added.

She noted that “We need to preach peace, talk peace and walk peace. If that is mentality in each and every body, then would create a change. But if we don’t have that, then; we shall keep talking about silencing the gun.”

It is to be recalled that the AU theme of the year of 2020 to be ‘Silencing the guns: creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development’ as one of the flagship projects of the wider developmental blueprint Agenda 2063.