Peace consolidation in West Africa - Security Council, 9825th meeting

Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (S/2024/871).
Amid Growing Strength of Terrorist Groups in Sahel, West Africa, Senior Official Urges Security Council to Scale Up Support within Regional Frameworks

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 01:40:36
• Production Date: 20 December 2024
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: LEONARDO SANTOS SIMÃO
• Corporate Name: SECURITY COUNCIL; ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES - ECOWAS; UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL OFFICE FOR CENTRAL AFRICA - UNOCA
• Subject Topical: REGIONAL COOPERATION; POLITICAL COOPERATION; CLIMATE CHANGE; TERRORISM; DIPLOMACY; POLICY-MAKING; INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
• Geographic Subject: WEST AFRICA; AFRICA
• MAMS Id: 3328595
• Parent Id: 3325542

Description

In a region grappling with escalating threats due to violent non-State actors, civic restrictions, political transitions and heightened humanitarian needs, the head of UN efforts in West Africa and the Sahel called on the Security Council for scaled up support within regional frameworks, as speakers welcomed more signs of progress on the democratic front. 

Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), presenting the latest Secretary-General’s report (document S/2024/871), reported that he just attended the 15 December Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Summit, where Heads of State took note of the decision of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the organization. 

ECOWAS responded with an offer of six months for dialogue to encourage those countries to remain, he added. Regional leaders unanimously acknowledge insecurity as the region’s most urgent concern, with terrorists becoming increasingly aggressive, and utilizing sophisticated weaponry, including drones, he said, also drawing attention the spread, beyond the Sahel, of violent extremism and organized crime to northern Benin and Togo, and the Gulf of Guinea countries. To address such threats, he called for the Council to scale up support within regional frameworks. 

While the announced operationalization of the ECOWAS Standby Force is a positive step, the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel) joint force has ceased operations, and the Accra Initiative is undergoing restructuring, to model the Multinational Joint Task Force, “the primary security cooperation mechanism in the Lake Chad Basin region, and the only functioning platform for cooperation on regional security in West Africa and the Sahel”. He went on to highlight a trip in November to Chad with Special Representative Abdou Abarry, Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), during which they met the Lake Chad Basin Commission as well as a camp for internally displaced persons — of whom the country presently hosts 2 million, amid severe flooding, with the worsening humanitarian situation in other countries leading to further displacement. In this context, he urged support for the underfunded humanitarian appeal, which is less than 50 per cent funded. 

Addressing climate resilience, he spotlighted meetings held between stakeholders to discuss the transboundary management of water at the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, and welcomed the visit, in December, of the Council’s informal expert group on climate change, peace and security to the Lake Chad Basin region. 

Related Sites and Documents

UN Press Coverage

S/PV.9825

S/2024/871