STATEMENT
BY THE
SECRETARY GENERAL, SINDISO NGWENYA
AT THE OPENING OF THE
FIFTEENTH MEETING OF THE MINISTERS OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
16TH OCTOBER 2016
Em/Oct.2016
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Our Guest of Honor, Right Honorable Mahafaly Soloandrasana Olivier,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Madagascar,
Honourable Ministers of Foreign Affairs from COMESA,
Other Ministers present here today,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors accredited to Madagascar
Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to COMESA,
and
Distinguished Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to welcome you to the Fifteenth Meeting of the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs. But let me first, on behalf of the delegates assembled here,
extend our very sincere appreciation to the Right Honorable Prime Minister for
accepting to open this meeting. Let me also convey our gratitude through you to
His Excellency President Hery Rajionarimampianina, the Government and the
people of Madagascar for hosting this meeting and for the very warm hospitality
that we have received since we got to this beautiful Island Nation.
I also taken
this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to the Honourable Ministers of
Foreign Affairs that are here today for their continued commitment towards the
attainment of peace, security and stability and for the wise guidance that they
have continued to provide over the years.
Honourable Guest of Honour, We are now only four years to achieve the goals
set by our Heads of State and Government committing to silencing the guns by
2020 and achieve a conflict free Africa that will make peace a reality for all its
citizens, as contained in the African Union’s 50th Solemn Declaration of May
2013. It is with that in mind that I am convinced that our holding this meeting in a
country that is on a recovery path will be very beneficial for us. Madagascar has
been through a most challenging past that has denied them adequate time and
the kind of stability that would enable a country to chart its development. Unlike
many of the countries here today, the first signs of turbulence happened just
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twelve years after independence in 1972 with sustained mass action and the
removal of the first President from office.
These trends of protest-instigated
takeovers continued for most of the Madagascar’s young history including the
most recent coup of 2008. Such repeated incidents, coupled with relatively little
support from the international community and the normal challenges that have
faced most African Countries have left Madagascar with very little time to
consolidate its democratic processes and economic development. Yet today, the
evidence of determination and resilience are very clear in most sectors of the
government and society.
I am looking forward to benefit from experiences that our Guest of Honour will
share with us because I am sure it will set the pace for this Meeting to meet its
objectives and also place our region in the path of establishing a culture of
peace.
Distinguished Delegates,
Before our Guest of Honour comes to share his wisdom with us, I would like to
highlight one or two things from the agenda of today’s meeting. I have followed
the discussions of the meeting of the Committee on Peace and Security, which
sat on 12th and 13th October 2016 and I am encouraged by the obvious desire by
authorities in most countries to ensure that comprehensive solutions that prevent
future relapses are reached. Out of the six countries that will be discussed here
today, there are on-going national dialogues in four of these countries; while the
other two countries show results from previous successful national dialogue and
reconciliation exercises.
What is more, these national dialogues have been
called for/ or are driven by the highest office in the respective state, which is
doubly encouraging because it speaks of political-will as well as a determination
for the entrenchment of a culture of tolerance. It also shows a desire by the
parties to address the root factors of the issues which can be attained if these
dialogues are held in an honest, open and inclusive environment.
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Honourable Ministers,
Resolving conflicts comprehensively can no longer be seen as a long-term goal
but it is now an urgent necessity because we are continuously facing other global
challenges that require us to be stable and united as a region. Primarily, we are
faced with the global phenomenon of terrorism, the impact of climate change and
the global economic crunch, all of which require single-minded focus and
determination to either eradicate or resolve conflicts. I therefore look forward to
the guidance that you shall provide in addressing these issues as well as other
challenges that face our region especially the negative forces that continue to
operate in the Great Lakes Region. I commit that as Secretary General, to steer
our programmes to respond to whatever directives given to our secretariat.
In that regard, Honorable Ministers, I am honoured to highlight a few of the
achievements of the programme on Peace Governance Peace and Security;
 We have now put in place a robust early warning system and we were
honoured to complete our first structural vulnerability assessments
which we disseminated to all countries last year. We are confident that
addressing will contribute to finding lasting peace in our region;
 Secondly our post conflict programme has reinforced trade and
investment in the Great Lakes region by establishing sixteen Trade
Information Desk that have facilitated thousands of small scale traders
with accurate and reliable information at the border areas. In addition,
we are now at an advanced stage of establishing five border markets
and access roads in the same region with an estimated budget of
approximately 5.0 million euros, mobilised from partners. This focus
has become a niche for COMESA because we recognise that peace
processes do not end with the signing of agreements but the phase that
follows is critical for ensuring lasting peace.
 Fourthly, we are contributing to the overall security of our region by
supporting the ten countries that were affected the most by maritime
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piracy. We are strengthening their capacity to fight financial crimes that
result from piracy and other predicate offenses, as well as ensure that
the illegally gotten money does not further perpetrate these crimes.
Honourable Ministers,
These are just a few examples, intended to reassure you that we have continued
to implement the programmes as directed by yourselves. I would however wish
to mention that the programme is experiencing reduced funding from most of the
partners, which could hurt the programme in the longer run especially given that
97% of the resources for implementing these programmes are mobilised by
cooperating partners.
We shall also be calling upon you to provide us guidance to mobilise more
resources from the region. In that regard, I seize this opportunity to congratulate
the African Union on its decision to put in place a model for more predictable
funding as adopted by the 27th Assembly of the AU Summit that was held in
Kigali in June 2016. I believe we can build on the work done by Dr Donald
Kaberuka, the AU High Representative for the AU Peace Fund, in order to
guarantee predictable and sustainable funding, as well as greater ownership by
the region.
With those few remarks, I am honoured to invite our Guest of Honour to make his
opening remarks.
I thank you all.
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