Skip to main content

UNHCR hails partnership with ECOWAS, says it has yielded fruitful results

- UNHCR has hailed partnership with ECOWAS in tackling humanitarian challenges in Africa

- The UNHCR's regional representative, Liz Ahua, said the partnership has proved very useful and created an avenue for regular stock taking of progress made in shaping a better future

- Ahua stressed that the UNHCR would continue to work with governments of all concerned countries to mitigate if not eradicate these problems

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional representative, Liz Ahua has hailed the collaboration between UNHCR and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in tackling myriads of humanitarian challenges in Africa.

Legit.ng reporter, Olajide Adelana, reports that she made the remarks at the opening ceremony of joint ECOWAS-UNHCR retreat for ECOWAS ambassadors in Uyo, on Monday, April 15, with theme: “Mixed population flows and durable solutions in the ECOWAS region.”

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Ahua stated that UNHCR’s partnership with ECOWAS which also includes the ECOWAS commission, ECOWAS parliament, and ECOWAS court of justice has proved very useful and created an avenue for regular stock taking of progress made in shaping a better future.

UNHCR hails partnership with ECOWAS, says it has yielded fruitful results

The permanent representative of Nigeria to ECOWAS and chair committee, Amb. Babatunde Nurudeen, delivering welcome address in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. Credit: Olajide Adelana
Source: Original

She observed that the retreat is one of the foremost regional initiatives birthed by the partnership between ECOWAS-UNHCR some 12 years ago.

“The UNHCR-ECOWAS partnership has been actively instrumental in advocating at a political level, for the protection of displaced persons and other affected populations, raising awareness about UNHCR’s work and ensuring the commitment of member states to the protection of displaced persons'', she said.

One of the successes Ahua ascribed to the partnership is the momentous results in statelessness which has led to the ratification of both 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions by West African countries.

She said only three countries were yet to sign the two statelessness conventions, thus making the region one of the most advanced regions in that regard in the world.

Statelessness which occurs when a person is not considered as a nationality of any country has become a major issue worldwide with about 10 million people said to be stateless.

It is estimated that at least 1 million stateless people reside in West Africa and Nigeria adds significantly to this burden with over 750,000 stateless people allegedly residing in the country.

Ahua also noted the myriads of problems bedeviling the sub-region, stressing that the UNHCR would continue to work with governments of all concerned countries to mitigate if not eradicate these problems.

“Forcible displacement of people both internally and across borders remains a thorny issue. Within the Lake Chad Basin situation Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroun continue to bear the brunt of the Boko Haram activities. UNHCR, working with the governments of all affected countries, has initiated two protection dialogues, organised respectively in June 2016 and January 2019,” Ahua noted.

Earlier in his welcome address, the permanent representative of Nigeria to ECOWAS and chair, ECOWAS permanent representatives’ committee, Amb. Babatunde Nurudeen, called on member states to undertake a thorough appraisal and analysis of all the factors responsible for mixed flows in West Africa and come up with durable solutions to the problem.

He also charged member states to put an end to political instability which he described as the major reason fueling migration problems in the West Africa.

UNHCR hails partnership with ECOWAS, says it has yielded fruitful results

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Antonio Jose Canhandula, presenting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. Credit: Olajide Adelana
Source: Original

The diplomat then admonished stakeholders including UNHCR and ECOWAS to ensure that the retreat is regularly organised so as to properly maximise and x-ray the achievement of previous meetings and chart a new course to tackle emerging problems in the sub-region.

READ ALSO: We’re not speaking on Atiku’s petition, APC’s response - INEC fires back

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Antonio Jose Canhandula, advised the Nigerian government on the best way to tackle the spate of insecurity in the country particularly in the north east.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Nigeria Latest News: IDPs in Plateau - The Herdsmen Have Taken Over Our Villages | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng



from Legit.ng: Latest Nigeria News Today & Breaking Naija News 24/7 http://bit.ly/2Grrds2
via EDUPEDIA24/7

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...