Gen. Abubakhar Jeje Odongo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, representing President Yoweri Museveni at the 8th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (PHOTO /Courtesy)
TUNIS — Uganda has called for sustainable funding of African Union Peace operations —saying that it will spur socio- economic transformation of the content.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Gen Jeje Odongo who represented President Yoweri Museveni at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Tunisian capital, Tunis said: “without a sustainable and predictable way of funding the African Union peace support operations, it is likely, we may not be able to preserve the gains made thus far”.
Citing security gains achieved in areas like Somalia, Gen Odongo said the international community must make diberate efforts to protect them,— noting that “terrorism, if not contained, has a tendency of achieving a universal character with un-intended consequences”.
He petitioned the UN Security Council to ensure sustainable financing to the African Union Peace Support Operations through the use of UN Assessed contributions.
The Japanese government created and hosted the first TICAD summit in 1993.
The conferences now are co-organized with the United Nations, the African Union and the World Bank. The summits have generated 26 development projects in 20 African countries.
This year, discussion around an increase of Japanese investments in Africa is anticipated, with particular focus on supporting start-ups and food security initiatives.
Japan has said it plans to provide assistance for the production of rice, alongside a promised $130 million in food aid.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the U.S. Defense Department, compared the conference’s format to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “where government, business, and civil society leaders participate on an equal basis.”
However, this weekend’s summit has sparked controversy in Tunis, which faces its own acute economic crisis, including a recent spike in food and gasoline shortages.
Uganda’s Gen Jeje Odongo told the conference for the past 30 years, TICAD Summit has provided the opportunity to strengthen cooperation and enhanced the continent’s capacity to deal with several challenges.
“In Uganda, a number of tangible projects [in areas of health and agriculture] , under the TICAD Framework, have been delivered, and others are ongoing implementation,” he said, noting that “this has significantly contributed to Uganda’s transformation”.
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