On the occasion of this visit, the President of the Republic of The Gambia, His Excellency Mr. Adama Barrow, and the President of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, expressed their interest in continuing to strengthen bilateral relations in areas of mutual interest.
Committing to multilateralism and a robust relationship between Africa and the European Union
- Both Presidents express their unwavering commitment to an international and multilateral rules-based order with the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. In this regard, they support the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity and the protection of human rights as cornerstones of peaceful co-existence of peoples.
- Both Presidents reiterate their commitment to strengthening multilateralism and working together to promote peace and to prevent conflicts, to strengthen respect for international law and the territorial integrity of States, to promote and protect human rights and to further gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, in all their diversity.
- Both Presidents call for the immediate resolution, by peaceful means, of the war in Ukraine, and highlight their concern over the serious consequences of the conflict in terms of food and energy security across the world.
- Both Presidents support United Nations Security Council resolution 2735 (2024), adopted on 10 June 2024, and underscore the importance of implementing there solution as soon as possible. They reiterate their urgent call for a lasting ceasefire that will enable a large-scale entry of humanitarian aid to mitigate the catastrophe suffered by the civilian population of Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages and detainees. They reaffirm their recognition of and support for the State of Palestine, and their commitment to the two-State solution, which necessarily entails the establishment of an independent, sovereign, contiguous State of Palestine, in line with the pertinent resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Similarly, they recognize the need for an international peace conference. The Gambia and Spain call on all the parties involved in the conflict to exercise restraint and thus prevent an escalation and spread of violence that could further destabilize the region of the Middle East.
- They express their desire to contribute to regional peace and stability and to the resolution of conflicts on the African continent, particularly in the Sahel.
- Spain recognizes the privileged positionof The Gambia in the region as a key stakeholder among Muslim countries in its capacity as chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation(OIC).
- Spain and The Gambia undertake to work to ensure that the next summit between the African Union and the European Union is held as soon as possible so as to strengthen relations between the two organizations.
- Spain and The Gambia underscore the importance of the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Seville in 2025, and stress the urgent need to agree on reforms to increase financing for sustainable development, and accelerate implementation of the 2030Agenda, as well as the African Union Agenda 2063.
- Given the magnitude of the climate emergency, Spain and The Gambia highlight that mitigationand adaptation actions and global efforts to facilitate access to financing, technology and climate capacity-building for vulnerable developing countriesmust be intensified if the target of zero net global emissions of greenhouse gases by or around 2050 is to be met and the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 ºC sustained. Both countries reaffirm their determination to strengthen cooperation for the protection of the environment, the conservation of biodiversity, the management of pollution and the promotion of sustainable growth. They undertake to work proactively to ensure the success of the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29)in Baku, including specific outcomes under the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG)and advances in the mitigation agenda, andto work towards the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund for developing countries.
- The two countries underscore the importance of promoting international cooperation to tackle desertification and droughts. In that respect, they welcome the progress made by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), which was officially launched by Spain and Senegal at COP27 in Egypt in 2022. Spain invited The Gambia to join IDRA. Spain looks forward to The Gambia’s membership of this Alliance.
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