Omar Touray, President of the Economic Community of West African States Commission (ECOWAS), has emphasised the importance of taking tangible action to fulfil long-standing commitments to global peace and development.
Touray addressed the Summit of the Future at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Touray congratulated UN Secretary-General António Guterres for holding the summit, highlighting its importance at a time when the world faces key choices.
“The timing of the summit is particularly significant coming, as it does, at a time when our world stands at a crossroads,” Touray stated, highlighting the need to choose between a chaotic past and a more just, collaborative future.
He questioned the Pact for the Future’s uniqueness, claiming that many of its commitments had already been defined in several UN frameworks.
“The fact that we have come back to the same old commitments suggests that we still need greater political will to deliver on the good promises,” he remarked.
Touray emphasised that for ECOWAS, the key to making the Pact meaningful is genuine implementation.
He urged decisive action in areas like peace and security, sustainable development, climate justice, and youth empowerment.
He urged countries to prioritise regional unity and integration, warning of the dangers of division and bloodshed, particularly in West Africa.
“If we fail to deliver once again, history will look back on this summit not as the summit of the future but as a summit of the past. This is the choice before us,” he added.
