United Nations Security Council at UN world headquarters in New York.
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – UN Security Council members on Friday departed for a visiting mission to West African nations Mali and Niger amid political instability and security crisis in the region. France and Niger are co-leading the mission, which will take place from Saturday October 23 to Monday October 25. This will be the Council’s first visiting mission since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The visiting mission has several main objectives. In Mali, Council members aim to assess the progress on Mali’s political transition, including preparations for next year’s legislative and presidential elections; examine the implementation of Mali’s 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Agreement; and evaluate the security crisis in central Mali. A key focus of the Niger leg of the trip will be the Group of Five for the Sahel Joint Force (FC-G5S), especially in light of the Secretary-General’s 5 October letter to the Council on options to increase support for the FC-G5S. During the visit to Mali, Council members are likely to remain in Bamako, where they are expected to meet with representatives of the transitional government, the signatory parties to the 2015 peace agreement, the international mediation team to the accord, and of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). They will also meet with civil society organisations—including women and youth organisations—and with representatives of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and other UN entities in Mali.
MALI Is The Most Dangerous Place To Serve As Peacekeeper
UN MINUSMA “Blue Helmets” peacekeepers on patrol in Mali. (UN.org)
On October 5, an attack against UN peacekeepers in Mali left one Egyptian ‘blue helmet’ dead, and four others seriously injured. Mali remains the most dangerous place to serve as a peacekeeper and having experienced two military coups over the past year, the security situation has deteriorated overall, with State institutions weakened, according to the UN. The Security Council has called on authorities in Mali to take immediate action to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections as the security situation worsens.
UN Security Council Visit To Mali To Focus on Political Transition
A major focus of the UN Security Council members’ Mali visit will be the political transition, which was established for an 18-month period after the August 2020 coup d’état that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The first round of legislative and presidential elections for restoring constitutional order is scheduled for 27 February 2022. But since a second coup d’état on 24 May that ousted the transition’s top civilian leaders and made Colonel Assimi Goïta transitional president, Mali appears increasingly unlikely to hold these elections on time. The Secretary-General’s latest report on Mali, dated 1 October, expresses “great concern” regarding delays in “preparations for the holding of general elections and the completion of the political transition”.
Niger Visit To Address Security, Humanitarian Crisis in the Sahel
(UN Photo/Cia Pak) Idriss Deby Itno, the late President of the Republic of Chad, addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly’s General Debate. (25 September 2019)
On April 19, 2021, Idriss Déby Itno, 68, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, was killed while on the front lines fighting rebels. The sudden death of Déby Itno has created a dangerous vacuum in Central Africa and the Sahel. Déby ruled Chad for 30 years.
From Mali, UN Security Council members will travel to Niamey to hold meetings with Niger’s government and the UN Country Team. They are also expected to meet with Major General Oumar Bikimo, the force commander of the FC-G5S, and Eric Tiare, the Executive Secretary of the Group of Five for the Sahel, which comprises Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. During the visit, Council members are expected to exchange views with the Nigerien authorities on the security, humanitarian and development situation in the Sahel. They will discuss efforts to protect refugees and internally displaced persons, and the effects of climate change on the region.
KENYA is President of the UN Security Council
Ambassador Martin Kimani, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations , is President of the UN Security Council for the month of October 2021. (Credit: UN Photo / Evan Schneider)
KENYA is President of the UN Security Council for the month of October 2021 with a focus on International Peace and Security. Martin Kimani, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, is serving as President of the Security Council for October.
The Council last visited Niger as part of its March 2017 visiting mission to the Lake Chad basin that also went to Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria.
Upon returning to New York, the Council is scheduled to have a briefing on Mali on 29 October, when the visiting mission’s co-leads are expected to present their report on the mission.
