As the world gets to commemorate the International Day of Peace, Dr Omar Touray who is the President of the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), has finally made an open call for some more stakeholders’ collaboration which would be geared towards the promotion of peace, equality and the process of ending racism as well.
The president had also made the call at an occasion which had been marking the World Peace Day and the launching of a documentary on the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework, (ECPF), at the ECOWAS commission, yesterday in Abuja.
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He said world peace day is a day set aside by the United Nations, (UN), to strengthen global peace through a 24-hour observance of non-violence and ceasefire and to celebrate the virtues of living in peace and harmony with ourselves and humanity.
“These ideals most graciously imposed by the United Nations are indeed the aspirations of the citizens of the economic community of west African states and these ideals have been well encapsulated in our effort of an integrated community of peoples living in a peaceful and prosperous region with strong institution and respect for the fundamental human rights and freedoms striving for inclusive and sustainable development.”
Represented by his special adviser, Mambury Njie, Touray said “more than ever, we need peace in our region, (West Africa), to make meaningful progress in our development and integration agenda.
“Racism and discrimination based on ethnic and religious identities, regionalism and gender among others will indeed prevent the fulfilment of these great aspirations of our people.
“The ECOWAS commission concurs with the United Nations declaration that racism denies people their fundamental human rights, destabilizes societies, undermines democracies and erodes the legitimacy of government,” he adds.
Speaking on the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework, (ECPF), a documentary which was also launched, COWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (CPAPS), Dr Abdel-Fatau Musa, said the documentary was born out of deep research to help member states understand the place of peace in promoting regional integration.
