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STORY: UN / WEST AFRICA VIOLENCE
TRT: 02:28
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
16 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council with Mohammed Ibn Chambas on screen
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel:
“The region has been shaken by unprecedented violence in recent months. Last week’s horrific attack against the Inates military camp, in Niger, still haunts the region.”
4. Wide shot, Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel:
“Incidents in the region show how terrorism, organized crime and intercommunal violence can easily intertwine. Yet, it is essential to avoid confusion, and distinguish among the drivers of this violence. Endogenous factors of local conflicts have been documented: they include governance deficit, in particular poor management of natural resources; inequalities and marginalization; corruption; and the broader failure of governments to deliver its regalian functions.”
6. Wide shot, Council with Smaїl Chergui on screen
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Smaїl Chergui, Commissioner, African Union Peace and Security Commission:
“We need to creatively rethink the military support we are providing to the countries of the region. The challenges encountered are beyond the capacity of the states concerned. Secondly, addressing this issue will require a holistic approach that must involve political and socioeconomic actions such as strengthening the presence of the state in the peripheries, enhance the state’s ability to deliver basic service including the rule of law, education, infrastructure, and strong environmental policies to address climate change.”
8. Wide shot, Council
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Leon Kacou Adom, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Côte d'Ivoire:
“We remain convinced that the strengthening of a bold and inclusive dialogue with communities, plagued by a feeling of marginalization, would allow their needs to be taken into account in the formulation of public policies, and to stamp out the spiral of intercommunity violence which is symptomatic of a deep need for dialogue.”
10. Wide shot, end of meeting
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas, today (16 Dec) said the region “has been shaken by unprecedented violence in recent months,” including last week’s “horrific attack” against the Inates military camp in Niger, which “still haunts the region.”
Chambas, addressing a Security Council briefing on intercommunal violence and terrorism in West Africa, said, “incidents in the region show how terrorism, organized crime and intercommunal violence can easily intertwine.”
Yet, he stressed, “it is essential to avoid confusion, and distinguish among the drivers of this violence,” including “governance deficit, in particular poor management of natural resources; inequalities and marginalization; corruption; and the broader failure of governments to deliver its regalian functions.”
For his part, the Commissioner of the African Union Peace and Security Commission, Smaїl Chergui, said, “we need to creatively rethink the military support we are providing to the countries of the region” as “the challenges encountered are beyond the capacity of the states concerned.”
Chergui said, “addressing this issue will require a holistic approach that must involve political and socioeconomic actions such as strengthening the presence of the state in the peripheries, enhance the state’s ability to deliver basic service including the rule of law, education, infrastructure, and strong environmental policies to address climate change.”
Côte d'Ivoire Ambassador Leon Kacou Adom told the Council that “strengthening of a bold and inclusive dialogue with communities, plagued by a feeling of marginalization, would allow their needs to be taken into account in the formulation of public policies, and to stamp out the spiral of intercommunity violence which is symptomatic of a deep need for dialogue.”
Today’s meeting was organised by Côte d’Ivoire and the United States, which holds the Council presidency for the month of December.
The purpose of the meeting, according to its concept note, was to highlight the underlying factors that contribute to intercommunal conflict and violent extremism throughout West Africa and to identify ways the Council can address the root causes.
