The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has stated that the theme for the upcoming 6th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government “Building a Safe, Secure and Prosperous Gulf of Guinea Region for Sustainable Development” was a reminder of the arduous task to counter the challenges confronting the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea towards achieving the desired goals; the protection of navigating routes and the Blue Economy.
The Minister recalled the decision of the 3rd Extraordinary Assembly held in Accra in 2023 to review the Constitutive Treaty of the Commission to allow for the expansion of membership to all costal States of the Gulf of Guinea region to provide the right context to guide deliberations.
She stressed on the need to strengthen the capacity of the GGC to provide policies and strategic guidance to deal with issues ranging from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, maritime terrorism, increasing incidence of smuggling and theft of oil, pipeline vandalism and other concerns that pose a significant threat to the peace and economic well-being of the region.
Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey was optimistic that the deliberations of the meeting will result in the re-evaluation of strategies that will help to surmount the myriad of challenges confronting the Gulf of Guinea region.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
