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STORY: UN / WEST AFRICA AND THE SAHEL
TRT: 4:20
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
18 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2.Wide shot, Security Council
3.SOUNDBITE (English) Barrie Freeman, Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel:
“Experience across the region shows that governance reforms perceived as exclusionary erode legitimacy and fuel popular discontent. The 7 December coup attempt in Benin, so close to presidential and legislative elections scheduled for early 2026, further underscores the need for broad consultation and transparency on constitutional and governance reform processes.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5.SOUNDBITE (English) Barrie Freeman, Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel:
“With this trend in mind, UNOWAS plans to intensify support to nationally owned dialogue processes, including through engagement with civil society, youth and women’s groups. We intend to work more closely with national peace councils and other entities that can channel public sentiment constructively, provide early warning, and serve as models for the region.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7.SOUNDBITE (English) Barrie Freeman, Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel:
“I urge the Security Council to support ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau and more broadly protect the region’s democratic gains.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9.SOUNDBITE (English) Barrie Freeman, Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel:
“Concrete steps are advancing to operationalize the ECOWAS regional counter-terrorism force, despite earlier delays caused by resource gaps. I urge member states to consider predictable financing for the Sahel under Security Council Resolution 2719. To operationalize this resolution, leaders of the region must develop a unified plan that includes a concept of operations. UNOWAS intends to work with partners, including the AU and ECOWAS, to build momentum towards this end.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Marc Hermanne Gninadoou Araba, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations:
“The event of the 7th of December must not be analyzed in isolation. They form part of a regional context marked by persistent institutional weakness, in which the prevention of disruptions to the constitutional order remains a major collective challenge. In a context where certain regional mechanisms are weakened or inoperative, the United Nations remains the central multilateral framework for documenting facts, exercising collective vigilance, and preventing any escalation.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Tiémoko Moriko, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire:
“My delegation would like to reaffirm that the fight against terrorism cannot rest solely on the most exposed States. This vital struggle requires collective action based on intelligence sharing, on the pooling of capacities, and increased support for regional initiatives, notably those ECOWAS and the African Union. Cote d'Ivoire therefore fully supports efforts aimed at strengthening the coming together between ECOWAS and the Confederation of the Alliance of States, because the challenge is common.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. Wide shot, Ambassadors arriving at the media encounter
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Samuel Žbogar, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations:
“We welcome UNOWAS progress on the climate peace and security agenda in close collaboration with regional and international partners. We commend the dedicated work of the climate, peace and security advisor. We value recent engagements on farmer pastoralist dynamics, transboundary protected areas, climate peace and security assessments and joint analysis on maritime and climate security. In line with this mandate. UNOWAS should continue supporting the region and its countries to address the root causes of insecurity, including through activities like the inter-ministerial dialog with climate, peace and security plan for 2026.”
17. Wide shot, Ambassadors leaving the media encounter
The UN senior official for West Africa and the Sahel Barrie Freeman said that the 7 December coup attempt in Benin, so close to presidential and legislative elections scheduled for early 2026, underscored the need for “broad consultation and transparency on constitutional and governance reform processes.”
Freeman briefed the Council today (18 Dec) via video link, on behalf of Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).
Freeman highlighted some key developments that illustrate both the region’s fragility and its resilience.
She noted that on 7 December, Benin’s national security forces, with support from ECOWAS and partners, thwarted a coup attempt by military officers citing grievances over deteriorating security, management of the armed forces, and restrictions on political activity.
On 26 November, in Guinea-Bissau, the military took control of the country, disrupting the announcement of presidential election results. Since then, arrests, divisive rhetoric and online hate speech are a growing cause of concern.
In Côte d’Ivoire, amid concerns over the exclusion of major opposition figures from the October 2025 presidential election, her office worked with ECOWAS and the AU to deliver unified messages that encouraged dialogue and the conduct of peaceful election.
The Deputy Special Representative stated that experience across the region shows that governance reforms perceived as exclusionary erode legitimacy and fuel popular discontent.
She said, “With this trend in mind, UNOWAS plans to intensify support to nationally owned dialogue processes, including through engagement with civil society, youth and women’s groups.”
“We intend to work more closely with national peace councils and other entities that can channel public sentiment constructively, provide early warning, and serve as models for the region,” Freeman added.
The Deputy Special Representative also urged the Council to “support ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau and more broadly protect the region’s democratic gains.”
Freeman also pointed out, “Concrete steps are advancing to operationalize the ECOWAS regional counter-terrorism force, despite earlier delays caused by resource gaps.”
She urged member states to “consider predictable financing for the Sahel under Security Council Resolution 2719.”
To operationalize this resolution, the Deputy Special Representative said, “leaders of the region must develop a unified plan that includes a concept of operations.”
“UNOWAS intends to work with partners, including the AU and ECOWAS, to build momentum towards this end,” Freeman concluded.
For his part, Ambassador of Benin Marc Hermanne Gninadoou Araba told Council members that the event of the 7th of December “must not be analyzed in isolation.”
Ambassador Araba said, “They form part of a regional context marked by persistent institutional weakness, in which the prevention of disruptions to the constitutional order remains a major collective challenge.”
“In a context where certain regional mechanisms are weakened or inoperative, the United Nations remains the central multilateral framework for documenting facts, exercising collective vigilance, and preventing any escalation,” he added.
Tiémoko Moriko, Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire said that the fight against terrorism “cannot rest solely on the most exposed States.”
He explained, “This vital struggle requires collective action based on intelligence sharing, on the pooling of capacities, and increased support for regional initiatives, notably those ECOWAS and the African Union.”
Ambassador Moriko reiterated, “Cote d'Ivoire therefore fully supports efforts aimed at strengthening the coming together between ECOWAS and the Confederation of the Alliance of States, because the challenge is common.”
Earlier today, Ambassadors from Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom spoke to reporters as pledgers on Climate, Peace and Security.
Slovenian Ambassador Samuel Žbogar spoke on behalf of the countries.
He welcomed UNOWAS progress on the climate peace and security agenda in close collaboration with regional and international partners, commending the dedicated work of the climate, peace and security advisor.
He said, “We value recent engagements on farmer pastoralist dynamics, transboundary protected areas, climate peace and security assessments and joint analysis on maritime and climate security. In line with this mandate.”
“UNOWAS should continue supporting the region and its countries to address the root causes of insecurity, including through activities like the inter-ministerial dialog with climate, peace and security plan for 2026,” Ambassador Žbogar concluded.
