Credit:  Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times / United Nations  Secretary-General António Guterres at UN world headquarters in New York,  file photo.

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS   –  NEW YORK –  United Nations  Secretary-General António Guterres will attend a summit in France Monday January 13 hosted by President Emmanuel Macron with leaders of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, otherwise known as the G5 Sahel countries,  to discuss ways  combating Islamic extremism in the troubled West Africa region.  The  UN Secretary General will be at a dinner taking place at the summit in Pau, France.  Josep Borrell of the European Union, Charles Michel of the European Council, the African Union’s Moussa Faki, and Louise Mushikiwabo from the International Organization of the Francophonie are also expected to attend the dinner. The dinner aims to address the crisis in the Sahel by strengthening international engagement and collaboration on security, humanitarian and development.   Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN  Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, will arrive in Dakar in Sengal this Sunday, ahead of a week-long visit that will take her to Senegal and also to Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. In meetings with national and regional leaders,   DiCarlo is expected to  discuss the security, political and humanitarian situation in the region and explore ways on how the UN can enhance its support to tackle challenges to peace, security and stability, including the fight against terrorism.

UN Official Describes Relentless, Unprecedented Terrorist Attacks In West Africa, Sahel

Credit:   UN Photo /  Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel

The top UN official in West Africa and the Sahel this week  described a devastating, “unprecedented” surge in terrorist violence across the region.  Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, briefed the Security Council meeting on peace consolidation in West Africa at UN world headquarters. 

“The region has experienced a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets. The humanitarian consequences are alarming.”

Chambas told the Council in its first formal meeting of the year. In presenting his latest report, Mr. Chambas painted a picture of relentless attacks on civilian and military targets that he said, have “shaken public confidence”.

The UNOWAS chief elaborated on terrorist-attack casualties in Burkina Faso Mali and Niger, which have leapt five-fold since 2016 – with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019 alone as compared to some 770 three years earlier.

SEVEN CHILDREN  Among 14 Civilians Killed in Roadside Bomb in Burkina Faso 

Seven children and four women were among 14 civilians killed when a roadside bomb blew up their bus in northwestern Burkina Faso just this week,  AFP reported.

West Africa,  Sahel To Remain a Priority of the UN Secretary‑General:   Spokesperson 

“…I think it (West Africa, Sahel) is very much a priority.  He (Secretary-General Guterres) has been speaking about it almost from the beginning of his mandate. In 2017, we went to Nairobi, and I remember him making a big push for the G5 Sahel force to receive predictable funding.  That has not happened.  And we know that the lack of predictable funding and support to those forces has had a negative impact on their ability to do their work,”

-Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said during a press briefing  Thursday at UN world headquarters in New York. 

FRANCE  Maintains 4,500 French Troops in West Africa Sahel in OPERATION BARKHANE 

France, the former colonizer,  spends $700 million per year to maintain its approximately 4,500  soldiers in its Operation Barkhane counter-terror operation in the  West Africa, Sahel.   But the situation in the Sahel is rapidly deteriorating. The region is still a sanctuary for terrorists.