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7699th Security Council Meeting: Challenges in Sahel Region
Briefer tells of species lost To desertification, youths lured by militants.
Stretched thin between the interlinked challenges of desertification, poverty and rising violent extremism, resolving challenges facing the Sahel region of Africa would require accelerated regional action and urgent international support, the Security Council heard during a series of briefings today.
“West Africa and the Sahel countries are at a crossroads,” Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), told the 15-member Council. They were on the front line of humanity’s struggle against climate change and also faced challenges related to organized crime, trafficking and violent extremism. While those challenges were primarily the responsibility of Governments in the region, their budgets were already stretched, and they needed international support, he said. Indeed, dealing with desertification, insecurity in Libya as well as jihadists returning from the Middle East was beyond the scope of any single Government alone.
Jean-Paul Laborde, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), described climate change as an “aggravator” of conflict and violent extremism, adding that other contributing factors included poor governance, economic instability and unemployment. The recent terrorist attacks in West Africa — well below the Sahel zone — demonstrated the flexibility and inventiveness of terrorists operating in the region, he said, calling for an equally flexible and innovative United Nations response. Citing the alarming pace of weapons proliferation across the region, he stressed that terrorism in the Sahel was a complex and constantly evolving threat.
Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said the opportunity for coherent action in the Sahel appeared to be closing quickly, as immense challenges pressed in and the region’s population grew at annual rates of up to 4 per cent. For the bulk of the people, life was already tough and would get tougher, creating a breeding ground for disillusionment, crime, radicalization and conflict. With up to 80 per cent of them eking out a living from the land, climate change and the accompanying land degradation would further destabilize the situation, she said, warning that tensions over land and water shortages could spiral out of control as they had done in Darfur.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Coordinator of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, said climate change and desertification had become part of the daily lives of the Sahel’s peoples and a major cause of instability and insecurity. Conflicts over water, land and migration routes would increase, as would the recruitment of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, she predicted, noting that the militants offered cash in the neighbourhood of $500 to young people who would otherwise have a hard time earning $50 a year. Underscoring the need for the Council to play a preventive role, she called for accelerated implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, with an emphasis on contributions from countries bearing the greatest responsibility for pollution.
As the members of the Council took the floor, a number of speakers underlined the need to support the “Group of Five for the Sahel” — formed in 2014 by Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger — as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other regional entities on the ground. Meanwhile, other speakers objected to the Council’s consideration of the issue, noting that it was not the appropriate venue for a discussion on climate change or development.
In that regard, the Russian Federation’s representative said that, although desertification added to the Sahel’s problems, it did not in itself pose a threat to international peace and security, and should be considered in other United Nations forums.
Venezuela’s representative pointed out that many of the difficult political circumstances and instability in the Sahel had been unleashed by the 2011 intervention in Libya. Africa had historically been a victim of the ambitions of more powerful States, he said, emphasizing the need to respect the sovereignty of the region’s countries on the path to peace.
Also speaking were representatives of Senegal, Spain, China, United Kingdom, Uruguay, United States, Japan, France, Ukraine, New Zealand, Angola, Malaysia and Egypt. The Council also heard from the African Union High Representative for Mali and the Sahel, and the European Union’s Special Representative for the Sahel.
The meeting began at 3:07 p.m. and ended at 6:24 p.m.
