UN / MALI

The top United Nations official in Mali told the Security Council that the security situation in the country “remains quite volatile” and is marked “by continued violence perpetrated by terrorist groups in certain areas of Mali with devastating consequences for civilians.” UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:41
• Production Date: 12 April 2023
• Asset Language: English; French
• Corporate Name: SECURITY COUNCIL; UNITED NATIONS MULTIDIMENSIONAL INTEGRATED STABILIZATION MISSION IN MALI - MINUSMA
• Subject Topical: ARMED GROUPS; DISPLACED PERSONS; HUMAN RIGHTS; INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW; PEACE AND SECURITY
• Geographic Subject: MALI
• MAMS Id: 3034489
• Parent Id: 3034489
• Alternate Title: unifeed230412c

Description

STORY: UN / MALI
TRT: 02:41
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 12 APRIL 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE - NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters

12 APRIL 2023, NEW YORK CITY

2. Various shots, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (French) El-Ghassim Wane, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA):
“The security situation in the country remains quite volatile. It is marked by continued violence perpetrated by terrorist groups in certain areas of Mali with devastating consequences for civilians.”
4. Wide shot, Special Representative El-Ghassim Wane speaking
5. SOUNDBITE (French) El-Ghassim Wane, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA):
“In this increasingly complex environment MINUSMA, with its limited capacity, continues to do everything possible to protect civilians, through a combination of day and night patrols in coordination with the Malian defence and security forces up until 15 kilometers beyond the city of Ménaka. In addition, the Mission continues its activities to promote reconciliation and social cohesion in order to defuse inter-community tensions.”
6. Wide shot, Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) El-Ghassim Wane, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA):
“It is important that the Malian authorities make every effort to ensure that military operations against extremist groups are conducted in the full compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, that violations and abuses are transparently and promptly investigated, and perpetrators brought to justice.”
8. Wide shot, Special Representative El-Ghassim Wane speaking
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Issa Konfourou, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mali:
“I can assure you that the government will continue to work tirelessly for the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as the respect of international humanitarian law on our territory. However, Mali will react just energetically to any use of the issue of human rights for political ends or for the ends of destabilization.”
10. Wide shot, end of Council session
11. Wide shot, Wane at the stakeout podium
12. SOUNDBITE (English) El-Ghassim Wane, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA):
“Our ability to operate depends also on the level of cooperation we receive from the Malian authorities. The higher that cooperation is, the more effective we are. Hence my call to them to facilitate our work when it comes to access, when it comes to human rights investigations, and so on. But these are issues on which we engage with Malian authorities on a daily basis, and we continue to engage them and hopefully, through dialogue, we will make some progress.”
13. Pan right, Wane walks away

Storyline

The top United Nations official in Mali today (12 Apr) told the Security Council that the security situation in the country “remains quite volatile” and is marked “by continued violence perpetrated by terrorist groups in certain areas of Mali with devastating consequences for civilians.”

Presenting the Secretary-General’s latest report on Mali, he stressed the need to resolve the tensions between the government and signatory armed groups, in light of the security situation in Gao and Ménaka.

Wane, who is the Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said, “in this increasingly complex environment MINUSMA, with its limited capacity, continues to do everything possible to protect civilians, through a combination of day and night patrols in coordination with the Malian defence and security forces up until 15 kilometers beyond the city of Ménaka.”

In addition, he added, “the Mission continues its activities to promote reconciliation and social cohesion in order to defuse inter-community tensions.”

Gao and Ménaka continue to see fighting between two extremist groups, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which has created a major displacement crisis.

Wane said it was “important that the Malian authorities make every effort to ensure that military operations against extremist groups are conducted in the full compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, that violations and abuses are transparently and promptly investigated, and perpetrators brought to justice.”

Malian Ambassador Issa Konfourou for his part told the Council that the government “will continue to work tirelessly for the protection and promotion of human rights, as well as the respect of international humanitarian law on our territory.”

However, Konfourou added, “Mali will react just energetically to any use of the issue of human rights for political ends or for the ends of destabilization.”

In March, MINUSMA published its latest quarterly note on trends in violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law in Mali, covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2022. It showed that the number of people killed grew from 584 in 2021 to 1,277 in 2022, and 2,001 people were affected by acts of violence last year, including 370 who were abducted or disappeared.

Outside the Council, Wane told reporters that MINUSMA’s “ability to operate depends also on the level of cooperation we receive from the Malian authorities,” adding that “the higher that cooperation is, the more effective we are.”

He called on the Malian government “to facilitate our work when it comes to access, when it comes to human rights investigations, and so on.”