YouSaid · the spoken record

Harold Adlai Agyeman

lines on the record
15
first
2021-08-09
most recent
2021-08-09
sittings or episodes
1
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un-security-council

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  1. “We assure you of our commitment, as the current Chair of ECOWAS, to deepening cooperation and partnership between the United Nations and our regional group on enhancing maritime safety and security. We must therefore work together to combat crime at sea and prevent the development of any convergence of interests, and intent, between the bandits at sea and their land-based counterparts.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  2. “To this end, we need to explore more ways to enhance channels of communication between Governments and the private sector on maritime security. In addition, we support the call for increased investment to help improve data collection, research and analysis, as well as judicial procedures, pertaining to maritime security. Even though the incidents of piracy and maritime robberies take place on the seas, it is on land that such illicit gains are hidden and used. Urgent measures are therefore needed for enhancing national legislations, strengthening criminal investigations and vigorously prosecuting cases. In conclusion, Ghana once again commends India for organizing a debate on this very important topic.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  3. “Also, joint and coordinated operational training needs to be enhanced to improve interoperability on the basis of harmonized procedures. The development of maritime intelligence and the effective and timely sharing of such intelligence continues to be necessary to enhance maritime safety. We further wish to stress the importance of strengthening regional arrangements to help enhance maritime security, including the operationalization of the interregional coordination centres in the Gulf of Guinea as well as the creation of the maritime zonal centres in the region under the auspices of the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centres. Ghana shares the view that a whole-of-society approach is required in order to sustain efforts in dealing with maritime security.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  4. “We also recognize the Obangame Express, the largest multinational maritime exercise in West Africa for security personnel, under the auspices of the United States Africa Command initiative. The initiative seeks to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness and tactical interdiction expertise in order to enhance the collective capabilities of Gulf of Guinea and West African nations to counter sea-based illicit activity. These initiatives, which complement interventions by other key stakeholders such as the Peacebuilding Commission, UNODC and UNOWAS, to mention but a few, are critical and should be encouraged. Ghana recommends the urgent enhancement of technical assistance and capacity-building at the national and regional levels to help deal with challenges of maritime security.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  5. “To further demonstrate our commitment in dealing with the issue, Ghana is set to endorse a comprehensive national integrated maritime strategy this year. The strategy seeks to improve interagency cooperation and thereby boost collaboration among land, sea and air forces and key stakeholders in the country. At this juncture, Ghana acknowledges the role of stakeholders in combating maritime crimes in the region, including the European Union for establishing a maritime security policy for the Gulf of Guinea and the efforts being made to implement it. We encourage the strengthening of such partnerships as well as the initiative by the Group of Seven Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  6. “Within the West Africa region, Ghana believes that the Code of Conduct Concerning the Repression of Piracy, Armed Robbery against Ships and Maritime Activities in West and Central Africa, signed in 2013, continues to be the most viable framework in responding to the menace of piracy and maritime robberies. More support, including financial support, is therefore required for the implementation of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct. At the national level, maritime security remains a priority for the Government of Ghana. As a coastal State, Ghana is taking all required steps to modernize its naval vessels and strengthen the legal regime relating to maritime crimes. It will continue to do so and to support, within its capacity, similar efforts by neighbouring coastal States.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  7. “It directed the President of the ECOWAS Commission to take appropriate measures, in consultation with Member countries, to fully operationalize the ECOWAS maritime security architecture. As the current Chair of ECOWAS, Ghana is committed to cooperating with all partners at the multilateral level to help implement the maritime strategy for improved maritime security in the region. Recent developments in the maritime space also show clearly that there is a need to close the gap between policy intentions and implementation outcomes. Some coastal States continue to require strong support in developing naval capacity, retooling maritime equipment and funding naval operational activities. We therefore emphasize the importance of strengthening regional arrangements in dealing with these challenges.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  8. “On the whole, intra-African trade, which is a key objective of the integration agenda of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Continental Free Trade Area, is adversely affected, as the activities of these pirates threaten the free movement of goods and services. As may be clear by now, the issue of maritime security is a top priority for West Africa. At the fiftieth ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, held in Accra on 19 June 2021, the Authority expressed worry about maritime security in the region and reiterated its call on its Member countries to fully implement the measures adopted at the national, regional and continental levels to ensure maritime security and safety in the Gulf of Guinea.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  9. “When the risk of piracy is programmed into mitigation costs in the form of insurance, its impact on the economies of coastal and landlocked countries becomes amplified and adverse. The costs are even higher when illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which is estimated at some $1.5 billion, is added. The illicit funds that maritime bandits acquire, in particular through the thriving black market on petroleum products, has enabled them to equip and develop the capability to attack vessels further afield, on the high seas. Furthermore, maritime crime poses a threat to the humanitarian situation in the region, since it affects the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance which is transported by sea. Currently, over 20 million people in the region are in need of humanitarian assistance to address food insecurity, among other factors.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  10. “Despite the drop in quarterly trends this year, there is a clear indication that the use of violence as an instrument for perpetrating piracy and related maritime crimes has been on the increase. The growing number of armed attacks against vessels such as petroleum and chemical tankers is reflected in the number of kidnapped crew members. The rise in maritime crime can be attributed to a number of factors, including legal and jurisdictional weaknesses, conflict and disorder, underfunded law enforcement, inadequate maritime capabilities and the lack of economic opportunities. Although data is difficult to come by, the negative impact of maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea and the world at large is enormous. Industry experts suggest that, in 2017, the direct cost of piracy was in the region of $818.1 million.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  11. “With proven hydrocarbon, mineral and fisheries resources, the maritime space is witnessing growing interest in the development of ocean resources, including those in territorial waters as well as the resources of the high seas and the seabed. However, the economic potential in the Gulf is threatened by the rise in maritime crime. For example, in 2020, out of 135 maritime kidnappings, 130 such incidents of sailors and crew taken hostage occurred in the Gulf. Also, in the first quarter of 2021 alone, as reported by the International Maritime Bureau, of the 38 reported maritime incidents globally, 43 per cent were recorded in the Gulf, in comparison with 47 recorded incidents for the same quarter in 2020.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  12. “While welcoming the presidential statement, Ghana shares the view that there is a need to place more focus on regional arrangements and initiatives aimed at addressing maritime crime. These regional arrangements, such as the Yaoundé maritime security architecture and other stakeholder initiatives like the European Union coordinated maritime presence in the Gulf of Guinea and the Group of Seven Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea, just to mention a few, are germane to achieving meaningful progress on the enhancement of maritime security. In spite of the important role of the international community in enhancing maritime security, Ghana remains concerned about the upsurge in maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The Gulf represents about 25 per cent of African maritime traffic and nearly 20 per cent of commercial sea ports.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  13. “We also acknowledge the contribution of UNODC in strengthening the legal department of the Yaoundé-based Interregional Coordination Centre for the Implementation of the Regional Strategy for Maritime Safety and Security in Central and West Africa) towards the implementation of the regional strategy in the Gulf of Guinea. Undoubtedly, criminal activities at sea are an antipathy to the development of a sustainable ocean economy, which, if properly managed, has the potential to lift several million people out of poverty and into inclusive growth and prosperity, as envisaged by Sustainable Development Goal 14. Ghana is therefore pleased with the focus of the debate and the presidential statement, which, we believe, underpins multilateral efforts in enhancing maritime safety and security.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  14. “In this connection, Ghana recalls Security Council resolutions 2018 (2011) and 2039 (2012), which encouraged Member States in West and Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea Commission to develop a regional anti-piracy strategy, in cooperation with the African Union, to deal with maritime crime. The role of the Peacebuilding Commission, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in providing capacity-building to Member States has proven useful and needs to be further encouraged.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source

  15. “We welcome this high-level open debate and believe that its focus on the theme “Enhancing maritime security: a case for international cooperation” is timely and will go a long way to re-igniting multilateral engagement in addressing the present concern that the maritime situation poses for the maintenance of international peace and security. We align ourselves with the joint statement submitted on behalf of the members of the zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic by Brazil. Multilateralism remains pivotal to resolving the global challenges of our time, and maritime security is no exception.”

    2021-08-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/722 (2021) · source