Credit:  /unowas.unmissions.org/   Ninth  Meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS), 21 October 2019 in Dakar.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  –  The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, reiterated the UN’s commitment to supporting the region amid increased terror and ethnic attacks.  Ibn Chambas chaired  the 9th meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) in Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday.   In his opening remarks, Ibn Chambas stated  that “the Sahel remains a priority for our institution. The success of our intervention in the Sahel relies on the partnerships we build and the way we coordinate our efforts, internally and externally”.  The participants stressed the need to ensure that resources are timely mobilized to help the governments of Sahel countries address, in an effective manner, governance, resilience, development and security challenges in the Sahel region.  The meeting’s objective was to review the current initiatives and also to explore ways to strengthen the implementation of the UN strategy to address the growing complexity of the situation in the Sahel

Credit:  UNOWAS /   Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS)

U.N. Peacekeeper Killed In Mali As Deadly Violence Rages Across Africa Sahel

Meanwhile, nine people were killed in northern Burkina Faso late on Sunday, in the latest attack in a region struggling with a jihadist revolt, AFP reported.  On October 12, gunmen killed about 15 people in an attack on a mosque in northern Burkina Faso during prayers on Friday evening, a security source and a local official told Reuters.  A  UN blue helmet peacekeeper from Chad was killed October 6,  and three others were seriously wounded when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device in Aguelhok, located in Kidal region in Northern Mali.  Terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL  region have increased dramatically during the past few years. Since 2013, when UN  MINUSMA deployed,   more than 200 peacekeepers have died in Mali, including close to  120 killed during hostilities.   The deadly violence has spiraled out of control this year, in particular, despite the presence of thousands of UN and international peacekeeping troops in Mali,  and across the Sahel region.