Submitted by: Democratic Alliance
The Democratic Alliance hereby moves that the Liberal International Executive Committee:
NOTES that the interconnection maritime safety and security challenges (MSS) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), pose a threat to international collaboration, stability, and prosperity with a direct impact on regional security, broader maritime trade, and the health of Southern Africa’s coastal environments.
RECOGNISES that challenges such as piracy, armed robberies at sea, terrorism, trafficking, crimes in the fisheries sector, degradation of ocean health, unlawful exploitation of marine resources, and the repercussions of climate change, need to be managed. Incidents involving acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships increased to 19 from 5 in 2023, with 18 occurring in port areas and one in international waters. The costs of these challenges relate to shipping, tourism and fishing, as well as increased military presence and operations in affected areas, re-routing of ships, higher insurance premiums, hiring security personnel and the installation of deterrent equipment. Action is required to also ensure freedom of navigation and overflight, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as wealth creation from Africa’s oceans and seas by developing a sustainable thriving economy in a secure and environmentally sustainable manner.
OBSERVES that these challenges are threatening global and African maritime security and cooperation, calling for a need to promote greater dialogue and complementarity across coastal states and international parties profiting from the IOR.
FURTHER NOTES that efforts to manage disaster risk in the IOR, covering preparation, mitigation and recovery relating to the aforementioned challenges, align with the principles of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, a multi-hazard UN approach recognising the importance of cooperation in disaster risk management: the development of knowledge and capacities by governments, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to and recover from hazards and emergency situations. The principles of addressing the gaps in governance in ocean regions also align with the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed this year during the third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France. It provides the first comprehensive global framework to protect biodiversity in the high seas and on the sea floor beyond national jurisdiction, strengthening global cooperation, enhancing scientific collaboration, and a scale-up of financial and technical support to developing economy countries.
ACKNOWLEDGES that South Africa’s seven commercial ports handle an estimated 200 million tons of freight a year, equating to 3.5% of world sea trade volume. Hence, the issue should be of key concern for South Africa, as the Republic is in the top 15 maritime trading nations, resulting in 80% of its trade being seaborne. Cape Town is a locational epicentre of global trade on the Cape Sea route, acting as an alternative to the Suez Canal route. Simon’s Town is also a key geological point at the South African maritime choke point on the Cape Sea route, in regard to trade and military strategics as well as geopolitical relations with the two main powers of the Western and Eastern hemispheres, the United States and China.
However, diverse interests, priorities, and capabilities of the actors involved in IOR can make the development of a shared architecture challenging. Therefore, rigorous information-sharing and coordination is required to achieve formalisation and institutionalisation of relations, as currently established between the member states of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), as well as understanding the complexities between different stakeholders’ visions. The Indian Ocean should be viewed as a key component of a changing geopolitical landscape.
RESOLVES THAT the disregard for the IOR would have long-lasting implications for the environment and climate change issues, as well as international relations of collaboration, trade and security. By acknowledging the need for further attention to the IOR, Liberal International will increase the strength of global efforts to uphold international stability and development through strategic coordination of common interests.
