The Minister of Planning and Economic Development (MoPED), Madam Kenyah Barlay on Wednesday 1st May 2024 at the Senior Officials Meeting of the g7 + countries appealed to member countries to raise the visibility and profile of the organization asserting that all the plans of the g7+ countries have been taken in a timely manner and hoped member states would continue especially actualizing their Heads of States and Governments Summit to call for political action for the world.
She made the statement at the closing of the two-day meeting of the g 7 + countries at the Radison Blu Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown.
Among others, the Summit was to specifically share and discuss the progress made by g7+ and the challenges faced as well as to set the scene to develop consensus on the way forward in addition to positioning the g7+ as an international group that can help in pursuit of peace and stability in member countries in the changing geopolitical landscape.
The Minister enlightened that Sierra Leone has held the chairmanship position of the g7 + countries for ten years during which the country has provided quality leadership to leverage at the United Nations affirming that the 16 countries of the g 7+ must consolidate their membership and prepare for the next meetings along the margins of the United Nations General Assembly underscoring that fragility should not be taken for granted and that now is the time in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation.
Madam Kenyah Barlay also observed that Sierra Leone’s 10-year chairmanship of the organization is a testimony of the trust members have in the country, assured that Sierra Leone would further contribute to its shared vision to improve the plight of conflict-affected countries for a just and equitable world and furthered that Sierra Leone’s Mid-Term National Development Plan is peace-centered.
According to the MoPED Minister, fragility issues should be at the forefront noting that the two-day Freetown Summit was insightful as delegates deliberated on conflict prevention and state building among other issues and called on delegates to redouble their advocacy efforts on the international stage to among others ensure that countries remain out of fragility noting that member countries account for a minute fraction of global emission of greenhouse gases.
Plans were also disclosed for Pope Francis to visit Papua New Guinea, Timoleseh and Indonesia in September this year as the Summit appealed to member countries to raise the visibility and profile of the organization.
Highlights of the Summit included thematic presentations on lessons learnt from Sierra Leone (21 years after the end of the war) and other countries on how they have preserved their peace, socializing the collaboration between Peace-Invest and g7 + and how it will help to identify opportunities for investments in g7+ countries as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), overview of the engagement with Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance on the outcome of the recent meeting with the IMF, re-centering the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and State Building-g7+perspective, climate change, humanitarian, development, peace and climate change-a nexus approach.
