(credit: elliott.gwu.edu) Mauritanian diplomat El-Ghassim Wane has been named the new UN envoy to Mali
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday announced the appointment of El-Ghassim Wane of Mauritania as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Ambassador Wane is set to lead one of the UN organisation’s most important and dangerous peace operations in the world. Wane succeeds Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh of Chad, to whom the Secretary-General said he is grateful for his invaluable contribution to peace and reconciliation efforts in Mali. Wane brings 25 years of experience in conflict prevention, mediation and peacekeeping, having served as Chief of Staff and Chief Adviser of the African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson (2017-2019) and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (2016-2017).
Ambassador Wane succeeds Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh of Chad as head of UN MINUSMA
Wane will replace Ambassador Saleh as MINUSMA head as Saleh’s five-year term comes to an end.
Wane also held positions with the AU, including as the AU Commissions Peace and Security Director and Head of the Conflict Management Division, having contributed to the development of AU’s key strategy and policy on conflict prevention and resolution as well as engaged in prevention, mediation and peacebuilding processes across the continent. He served as visiting Professor of the International Affairs at George Washington University, lectured at Sciences Po Paris and served as visiting senior research fellow at the African Leadership Centre, King’s College London.
Wane holds a master’s degree in International Public Law and International Relations and a postgraduate degree in International and European Studies from the Universities of Dakar (Senegal) and Lille II (France), respectively. He is fluent in French and English.
Mission In West Africa Nation Mali The Most Dangerous In The World For UN Peacekeepers
UN MINUSMA peacekeepers (Blue Hats) in Mali (credit: UN Photo)
Despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeepers and foreign troops, terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL region have increased dramatically during the past few years. There are nearly 22,000 troops in the Sahel, but they have yet to succeed in stopping the Islamist insurgency.
Today, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet’ with nearly 200 paying the ultimate sacrifice, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15, according to the UN.
On February 10, at least 20 UN peacekeepers were injured in an attack on their base in central Mali. During the attack, and according to a provisional toll, about 20 peacekeepers were injured,” Oliver Salgado, the spokesman for the UN’s MINSUMA peacekeeping operation in Mali via Twitter.
Meanwhile, the terror threat in Mali continues unabated despite a massive deployment UN peacekeepers and French troops tasked with halting jihadist’s attacks. There have been 25 French soldiers confirmed killed since the start of Operation Barkhane, which was launched more than four years ago to quell jihadist activity in the former French colony of Mali and in neighbouring countries.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by Security Council resolution 2100 of 25 April 2013 to support political processes in that country and carry out a number of security-related tasks. In 2012, Islamist radicals linked to al-Qaeda hijacked an uprising by ethnic Tuareg people and went on to seize cities across northern Mali, holding on for nearly a year until they were forced out by a French military intervention. There are about 13,000 UN MINUSMA troops in Mali.
