The Chairman, Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) – His Excellency (HE) Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, and the Commandant, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) – Major General (Maj Gen) Richard Addo Gyane, have jointly appended their signatures to finalize the Communique emanating from the 3rd Edition of the KAPS Forum, held on 28 to 29 February, 2024.
In remarks after the signing of the Communique, HE Dr Chambas, who doubles as the Chairman of the KAPS Goodwill Ambassadors, and is also the African Union’s (AU) Representative on Silencing the Guns, called for the institutionalization of the Forum owned by the Presidency of Ghana, and held biennially, to see it grow from strength to strength, and become the go-to event in the world, to discuss pertinent issues on peace and security, to honour HE Kofi Annan.

Speaking further to some contents of the Communique, and itemizing the issues therein, HE Dr Chambas, who additionally is Chairman of the ‘AU High Level Panel on The Sudan’ said, the theme that was chosen was highly relevant: Migration and Societal Resilience in a Multi-Polar World Order: Addressing Conflicts and Building Peace in Africa.
He added that, in discussing the topic, the Forum reflected on the push and pull factors which trigger migration, and that one of the significant facts that emerged was that, most of the migration happening on the African continent, is intra-African movements, and thus neighbouring African countries have been bearing the brunt, contrary to opinions making the rounds on some international media.
Talking of movements triggered by humanitarian crisis, of which the largest in the world is happening in Sudan, it has been ascertained that 10 million Sudanese are internally displaced, with 2 million migrants scattered into neighbouring countries such as Egypt, Djibouti, Chad, South Sudan, etc, and that there is the need to support African countries absorbing the migrants, HE Dr Ibn Chambas said.
Another aspect was Migration induced by Climate Change, which has of recent times seen many environments becoming uninhabitable, he continued, and pushing populations out of the areas in which they are usually found, thereby triggering a number of conflicts, particularly in the West African Sahel region, where nomadic communities are leaving the Sahel and moving further south, resulting in farmer-herder conflicts.

He then cited the issue of Africans migrating north into developed countries, as a phenomenon that the Communique highlights as witnessing increasing number of women and unaccompanied children moving; which was previously thought of as for young men, and attributes that to women becoming educated, and now join the search for greener pastures.
The 15-point recommendations Communique of KAPS2024 emphasizes the need for the respect of migrants; for they also have human rights and have to be respected, and similarly, for migrants going to other countries to respect the laws of their host countries.
HE Dr Chambas asserted that, it is regrettable that countries in North America and Europe, that were built with the sweat and tears of migrants, and used to pride themselves as countries of immigrants, are now shutting their doors to other migrants.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
1 comment
Education technologies in online secondary schools
online classes for middle school https://www.inddle-chool7.com .