Credit: U.S. Department of State /  Dr. J. Peter Pham is the United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa.

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region Dr. J. Peter Pham will travel to Bamako, west Africa nation Mali from September 30 to October 3, the State Department announced today.  The Special Envoy will meet with the transitional government as well as civil society, religious leaders, and officials from the United Nations, African Union, G5 Sahel and the diplomatic community.  Pham will urge the transitional government to honor the commitments it has made to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including holding free and fair elections within 18 months.   He will also encourage efforts to combat corruption, address human rights concerns, reform electoral processes, and implement the 2015 Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali.  Pham said the  U.S. condemns the August military coup that forced Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta out of power.     “The U.S. will help Mali return to constitutional rule,”  Pham said last week during a virtual Ground Truth Briefing hosted by The Wilson Center Africa Program titled:   “U.S. Interests and Engagement in the Sahel: Current State, Key Issues, and the Way Ahead”.  The Special Envoy also announced  the U.S. is contributing nearly $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the Sahel region.  “None of this humanitarian assistance will go to the de facto authorities in Mali” – Pham said during the Wilson Center briefing on the Sahel, referring to the military junta controlling Mali after the  Coup.

Mali’s transitional president appointed former minister of foreign affairs, Moctar Ouane, on Sunday as the West African nation’s prime minister days after being sworn into office.  The military junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People,  detained Keïta after overthrowing him, the prime minister and other government officials. Keita, who became ill, was eventually released and has gone to the United Arab Emirates for treatment.