V.P. Boakai calls for global ownership at Humanitarian Summit

Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has called on world leaders and their Countries to take ownership of the drive to remove causes for conflict and keep society on an even keel of stability and fair play, recommending that the first in the series of steps to preventing conflict should include elimination of poverty, provision of opportunities for success of its citizens and creation of an environment for advancement and education.

Vice President Boakai said states have a responsibility to promote the rule of law, respect for all, peaceful co-existence in diversity and other measures to prevent conflict, adding “conflict situations must be diffused to avoid reaching crises proportions.”

A dispatch from Turkey says Mr. Boakai spoke Monday in Istanbul during a high level leaders Roundtable held under the theme, Political Leadership to end and Prevent Conflict, moderated by the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon. Co-Chairs of the High level leaders ’Roundtable included, the President of the Republic of Turkey, Vice President Joseph N.Boakai of Liberia, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Head of Government of the Republic of Tunisia, Habib Essid.

Vice President Boakai recounted Liberia’s experience with the prolonged civil war that engulfed the nation, resulting from issues of marginalization and the unequitable distribution of the nation’s wealth, and praised the international community for helping the country returns to peace.

He recalled the statement of the United Nations Secretary General in the course of preparing for the Humanitarian summit in which he said, the summit “must be the beginning of a new era of international solidarity to halt the terrible suffering of people affected by conflict and disaster and who are depending on us.”

Touching on mechanisms that the Economic Community of West African States is putting into place to detect conflict, Vice President Boakai told the delegates that the sub region is far in a sub-regional effort to establish the National Center for the Coordination of the Response Mechanism known as the ECOWAS Early Warning Center at which time he commended the Government of the United States for its support to the project and called on other members of the international community to lend support to the project.

Other Roundtable sessions discussed the topics, Changing People’s Lives-from delivering Aid to Ending Need and Leaving No One Behind – A commitment to Address forced Displacement among series of side bilateral and multilateral meetings.

Hundreds of journalists descended on Istanbul to cover the summit, as television and radio vans could be seen around the media center specifically set up to highlight the summit, according to the dispatch.