United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix at UN world headquarters in New York, NY  (UN Photo)

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  – The head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Monday it will take a variety of different actors to confront and deal with the “daunting challenges” in the troubled African Sahel region.  Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix informed the  Security Council that counterterrorism efforts in the region have “actually intensified”. 

“We welcome the increased coordination of security players on the ground…for a more visible presence of defence and security forces in the region as well as stepped-up pressure on terrorist groups”, he said in his virtual briefing on the Joint Force of the Group of Five (G5) Sahel nations, namely Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. “

-UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix

As an essential compliment to peacebuilding efforts, Lacroix urged that the Joint Force’s police component be strengthened to improve military oversight as well as to support institution-building, prison reform and the “human rights compliance framework”.    He also underlined that the operational and logistical support of the UN stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for the Joint Force remains “critical”, particularly what he referred to as “life support consumables”, which have “proven essential”, especially during the rainy season.   However, the UN official highlighted the need for more “predictable funding” for the G5 Force to ensure that its robust counter-terror operations can continue without interruption.

“The G5 Sahel Joint Force plays a critical role in the regional response to violent extremism”, he attested, “It is essential that it receives the assistance it requires to carry out its mandated tasks”. 

 ‘Unprecedented humanitarian crisis’

Mindful of the disastrous implications that an inadequately addressed security situation in the Sahel may have on West Africa, the UN peacekeeping chief pointed out that “despite encouraging progress” made by the Joint Force, “much more remains to be done”.

“As calls for the mobilization of additional resources to support the G5 Sahel’s fight against terrorism continue, so do calls for increased mobilization to tackle poverty and the unprecedented humanitarian crisis that the region currently faces”, he asserted.

“Strengthening the Joint Force is indeed only one aspect of the international community’s support”