Peace consolidation in West Africa - Security Council, 9974th meeting

Escalating terrorism in West Africa, Sahel hits women hardest, speakers tell Security Council.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 01:47:55
• Production Date: 7 August 2025
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: SIMA SAMI BAHOUS
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN - UN-WOMEN; UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR WEST AFRICA AND THE SAHEL - UNOWAS
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; TERRORISM; VIOLENCE; WOMEN; GIRLS; PEACE CONSOLIDATION; PEACEBUILDING; GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE; FOOD SECURITY; SEXUAL EXPLOITATION; REGIONAL COOPERATION
• Geographic Subject: WEST AFRICA; SAHEL
• MAMS Id: 3435037
• Parent Id: 3434628
• Alternate Title: MTG SC 9974 UNOWAS 07 AUG 2025 AM

Description

The security situation across the Sahel is deteriorating rapidly, threatening peace and security in West Africa’s coastal States and beyond, delegates warned the Security Council today, condemning the deliberate targeting and exploitation of women and girls caught in the crossfire.

The Sahel is “where the world’s gravest concerns converge” — terrorism, coups, environmental collapse, poverty, hunger, dwindling development financing, shrinking humanitarian access and a declining UN presence on the ground — said Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women).

These crises, she said, “land — specifically, violently and disproportionately — on the bodies and futures of women and girls”. Noting that over 1 million girls in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are out of school because of terrorist attacks or threats, she stressed: “Abduction is not a by-product of terrorism in the Sahel, it is a tactic.” In Burkina Faso alone, the number of women and girls abducted rose by over 218 per cent last year.

Further, when a girl loses her education, she becomes vulnerable, she said. Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso rank among the highest globally in child marriage rates. Female genital mutilation affects 90 per cent of women in Mali and 76 per cent in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger are among the bottom 10 countries by the Human Development Index and Gender Development Index.

• Briefer: Mr. Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (via video-teleconference)
• Briefer: Ms. Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, UN-Women
• Briefer: Ms. Levinia Addae-Mensah, Executive Director, West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (via video-teleconference)
• Statements: All Council members, with Sierra Leone speaking on behalf of: Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Somalia

Related Sites and Documents

UN Meetings Coverage

S/2025/495

S/PV.9974