UN General Assembly
2012

situations. ECOWAS should not be left alone to shoulder the burden of those conflicts. I am elated by the fact that, this morning, the issues of Mali, the entire Sahel and the Maghreb were discussed. The AU and ECOWAS are ready, and I hope that the international community, particularly the Security Council, is also ready. The AU is ready to act to salvage the situations in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. The Security Council must, as I have said, act with a sense of greater urgency. We cannot let terrorists, drug dealers and organized criminal gangs establish a sanctuary in our backyard. “In line with our foreign policy, the Gambia stands ready, as always, to contribute meaningfully to the settlement of such conflicts. The level of steadfastness shown in solving the conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone some years ago must now, we hope, equally be shown in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. “The situation in Darfur continues to occupy the attention of my delegation, as well. We call for more dialogue in finding a lasting solution to that