The United Nations’ top official for Africa has called for more action to stop the spread of piracy
Despite the gains made in targeting organized crime groups at sea, “Incidents of piracy continue to threaten the safety of maritime traffic in the region” said Martha Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peace Affairs and Peace Operations.
Effective barriers
Since his last briefing on maritime security in November, he said the steady decline in piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea was in large part due to interventions by national authorities and local and international partners.
Together, these effective barriers against criminal groups has been disturbed by the ongoing operation of the so-called Yaoundé architecture, established in 2013 with a related registry. Code of Conduct by actors in the region, he said, noting that four out of five regional coordination centers are now operating.
Kind of effort, too joins the navy’s task forceshas increased cooperation and information sharing while developing a centralized framework for maritime security that bridges national and regional capacity gaps, he said.
The threat of water change
However, there are gaps, he warned, calling for increased support to fill them. These are similar challenges lack of appropriate equipment and of sustainable financing to ensure the full implementation of the Code of Conduct.
“Quickly address the challenges that prevent the full operation of Yaoundé’s architecture is necessary to maintain the current advantages,” he warned.
Recent figures have already suggested that “events are changing steadily from the waters of West Africa to the territorial waters of the UN Economic Community of Central African States, he said.
The issue of theft in the Gulf of Guinea was raised by several West African officials at the 66th General Assembly general debate in New York.
The following trends
From 2016 to 2021, the Pirate groups in the area changed their tacticsare shifting their focus towards “kidnapping for ransom” piracy, according to the UN Secretary-General’s report on piracy in the region.
A study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Maritime Crime Program shows that “kidnapped for ransom” travelers peaked in 2020, with 140 people reported kidnapped at sea, the report shows.
Research shows that the Pirate groups work indiscriminately, targeting vessels of all types, including fishing vessels, and increasing their activities further. Most cases at the time were reported beyond 200 miles from the coast.
Joint efforts
Against this backdrop, the number of times of robbery and piracy at sea, including kidnapping for ransom, reduced to 45 in 2021 from 123 in 2020due to national efforts, the Secretary General’s report found.
The report notes that preventive effect was more increased by the deployment of non-Gulf of Guinea vesselsincluding through the continuous presence of ships under the European Union Maritime Cooperation project, from Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and regular patrols of ships from Brazil, Canada, India, Morocco, Russia, United Kingdom. , and America.
UN help
For its part, the UN is ready to help, Ms. Pobee said.
Highlighting the many ongoing efforts, he said UNODC was, among other things, providing technical and logistical support for joint patrols.
Together, the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) have established an interregional project to review the Code of Conduct, which will be important in supporting for these efforts at a time when Counterfeiting remains a threat to the Gulf of Guinea area.
Key action areas
Under the most important areas for success in revising the code, he said countries must first update legal frameworks. Meanwhile, the strengthening of cooperation between the Interregional Center and the partners “is important”.
Additionally, players must address the root causes of theft to eliminate the threat, he said.
“To effectively eliminate the threat posed by piracy and armed robbery at sea, national stakeholders, local and regional organizations and international partners must also remain committed to addressing social, economic and environmental challenges that supports the recruitment of individuals into maritime criminal networks,” he said.
In this regard, it will be important for the review process, when launched, to have a focus on preventionconsider ways of improving more participatory community-based interventions in architecture, and create gender divisions data on the impact of maritime crime on women, girls, men, and boys to be suitable for policy options and actions.
“Without traction on this front, overall progress in addressing this risk will be limited,” he warned.
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