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8229th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Mali
Despite an ever-precarious security situation that had claimed the lives of civilians and United Nations peacekeepers alike, the peace process in Mali was making headway along a timetable leading to elections later in 2018, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.
Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who is also Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), said significant developments in the past three months included the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, who, in March, toured the restive north and central regions, as well as a growing level of trust between the signatories of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation.
While progress towards peace was being made, the fact that 2018 was an election year could not be overlooked, he told Council members. With presidential elections scheduled for 29 July and 12 August to be followed by legislative elections in November and December, he emphasized the urgency of sticking to the electoral timetable.
However, the first quarter of 2018 also saw a deterioration of the security situation, as well as serious human rights violations, he said. In line with Council resolutions, MINUSMA was conducting more and bigger patrols to reassure the population, assess the human rights situation and engage with communities in hard-to-reach areas. Nevertheless, the number of casualties was growing, as demonstrated by the deaths earlier in April of two “blue helmets” from Chad and a third from Nigeria.
Emphasizing the need to better train peacekeepers for one of the United Nations most hazardous operations, he said the Mission remained about short of about 100 armoured vehicles, and that a pledge by Canada to supply six helicopters, while welcome, also fell short of what MINUSMA needed.
Coming back up on the elections, he said implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali was a priority that must not become a political football. In line with its mandate, MINUSMA had started to lend technical and logistical support, within available resources, including the distribution of election materials and deployment of electoral personnel, while also preparing for any potential violence. He urged the Council to call upon Mali’s political class to respect the electoral timetable and adhere to the path to consensual, peaceful and credible elections.
Sweden’s delegate, speaking in his capacity as Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2374 (2017) concerning Mali, briefed members on its activities, which started on 1 February. Together with other Committee members, he said he visited Bamako on 26 and 27 March and received first-hand information from key stakeholders on how the sanctions regime could support Mali’s peace and stability.
In the ensuing discussion, the representative of Côte d’Ivoire — one of seven countries bordering Mali — voiced concern about delays in implementing the Agreement. “Time is of the essence,” he said, calling on all parties in Mali to engage meaningfully and respect the electoral timetable. Welcoming Council unity on MINUSMA support for the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-5 Sahel) joint force, he said security measures must be undergirded by initiatives on employment for youth and women, their engagement in politics, the fight against poverty and overcoming regional discrepancies.
France’s representative said recent fatalities among MINUSMA peacekeepers, including two French soldiers, served as a reminder of how the Mission was evolving, but also of the critical role it played. Calling for progress in such areas as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and security sector reform, as well as in countering human rights violations and impunity, he said Council members must remember that Mali had been waiting three years for peace. In that context, the Council should adopt measures to ensure that all parties complied with their road map responsibilities. The sanctions regime established in 2017 was a first step in that regard, he stated.
The representative of Bolivia said terrorism in Mali was not only placing civilian lives at risk, but also putting the brakes on economic and social growth, exasperating the presence of transnational organized crime. Emphasizing that the security situation was riven with challenges, he said the root causes of conflict in the Sahel were intertwined with the aftermath of intervention and regime change, notably the 2011 military intervention in Libya.
Agreeing, the Russian Federation’s speaker said the “unbridled spillover” of terrorism from Libya into Mali and other neighbouring States was the main destabilizing factor in the region. In that regard, he urged Council members to “learn from that lesson” in their future actions. He added that the sanctions must be used as a measure of last resort.
Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Mali, said his Government understood and shared the sense of impatience and angst regarding the implementation of some aspects of the Agreement. However, it wanted to reassure the Council and the international community of its determination to see the process through. There had already been many achievements, he said, not least a halt to fighting between the Agreement’s signatories. On the security situation, he said terrorists wanted to turn Mali into a place of hate, evil and crime. That was not a problem for Mali alone, as the shadow of terrorism loomed over the entire region. There must, therefore, be international support for regional initiatives, such as the G-5 Sahel force, he said.
Reiterating his Government’s determination to hold transparent, inclusive and credible elections, he added that all reports of human rights violations would be investigated. Turning to the humanitarian situation, he said the Government was, despite limited resources, investing in basic social services and striving to reopen schools. He went on to voice his Government’s unequivocal support for MINUSMA and seconded the Secretary-General’s appeal to strengthen its resources. Concluding, he said there were good grounds for hope. Peace in Mali was possible and the Government would leave no stone unturned in achieving that objective.
Also speaking today were representatives of Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, China, Sweden, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, United States, Kuwait, Poland, Netherlands and Peru.
The meeting began at 10:10 a.m. and ended at 12:33 p.m.
