Saraki, Ki-Moon Discuss Security, IDP Crisis in NewYork
Omololu Ogunmade
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, yesterday held a special meeting with 12 heads of parliaments from different parts of the world including Nigeria’s Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on security problems in many countries.
The meeting also dwelt on the resultant mass displacement of people from their traditional abodes with a consensus that the issues require global solutions.
According to a statement by the senate president’s media aides, the meeting was held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters as part of activities scheduled to hold during the fourth UN Conference for Parliamentary Heads in New York.
The meeting, the statement added, was attended by parliamentary heads from Nigeria, Italy, Switzerland, Vietnam, Kuwait, Lithuania, among others.
According to the statement, Saraki briefed the press after the meeting, where he disclosed that Ban Ki Moon told the parliamentary heads that the UN expressed concerns over the issues of terrorism, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and general insecurity which he said further worsened cases of poverty, under-development and disrespect for the dignity of human persons.
Saraki was said to have further stressed the important role of the parliament in providing proper oversight and ensuring accountability and openness while enacting laws that will be beneficial to their constituents.
Ki-Moon, according to Saraki, noted that peace, democracy and the rule of law were central to ensuring sustainable development as he expressed optimism that the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN would be more successful than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) because of the multi-stakeholder participatory approach being adopted by the comity of nations through the UN and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
The statement added: “The Senate President said he came out of the meeting with Ban Ki Moon more energised to get the much needed support for the IDPs and those affected by terrorism in the North-eastern part of his home country, Nigeria.