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Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh, who additionally heads the UN Workplace for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), recommended the Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS) for its engagement with the crises in Mali and Guinea and mentioned UNOWAS helps all efforts for a return to constitutional order as quickly as potential.
Mr. Mahamat Saleh believes that West Africa and the Sahel proceed to make progress in lots of areas however warned that the subregion is “battling insecurity, which dangers reversing hard-won advances.”
Progress
The Particular Consultant shared some progress with the Council members, similar to the state of border negotiations between Cameroon and Nigeria, and elections in Gambia and Cape Verde.
For the Particular Consultant, “these examples verify the attraction of democracy, as the surest vector for shaping the way forward for communities.”
Regardless of these political advances, Mr. Saleh believes the safety surroundings has turn into extra worrying.
In Burkina Faso, for instance, there are “incessant” assaults by terrorist teams; whereas in Mali and Niger, large-scale assaults towards navy and civilian targets proceed.
In Nigeria, an upsurge in crime between farmers and herders coincides with extremist violence within the northeast; different incidents, though small in scale, have occurred within the north of Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Togo.
For Mr. Mahamat Saleh, these occasions display that the “menace of acts of terrorism shifting from the Sahel in direction of the coastal nations of the Gulf of Guinea is a actuality.”
Humanitarian disaster
One of many main penalties of the safety state of affairs is a multifaceted humanitarian disaster, with rising meals costs and growing poverty.
Proper now, greater than 38 million individuals threat working out of meals by the subsequent lean season, a 23 per cent improve from final yr.
The rising insecurity has additionally led to huge inhabitants displacement.
In November 2021, there have been greater than 8 million refugees, internally displaced individuals, returnees and stateless individuals in West Africa and 4.1 million within the G5 Sahel nations (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania).
For Mr. Saleh, the major outcome of all these challenges is that “tens of millions of youngsters are rising up in tough situations, traumatized, malnourished, poorly cared for, and with out training.”
Safety considerations
The Director-Basic of the UN Workplace on Medication and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Fathi Waly, additionally briefed Council members.
She mentioned the Gulf of Guinea continues to be a precedence concern, with incidents alongside the West African coast accounting for nearly all of kidnappings at sea for ransom, occurring worldwide.
A brand new examine by maritime safety analysis group, Steady Seas, performed in partnership with UNODC, estimates that piracy and armed theft at sea are costing the Gulf of Guinea States $1.94 billion yearly.
Port charges and import tariffs misplaced attributable to decreased delivery exercise are estimated at $1.4 billion per yr.
“These billions symbolize misplaced potential, and funds that would in any other case be invested in licit economies and in creating coastal communities, funds which might be wanted now greater than ever within the persevering with COVID-19 disaster”, Ms. Waly mentioned.
Throughout the area, organized crime, facilitated by corruption, is additionally perpetuating instability, violence, and poverty.
“Lack of alternatives and frustration drive extra youth to piracy and crime, and depart them extra receptive to radicalization narratives”, the UNODC chief warned.
Individuals and drug trafficking
These determined situations additionally render extra individuals susceptible to human trafficking.
Based on the 2020 UNODC International Report on Trafficking in Individuals, 59 per cent of trafficking victims registered in West and Central Africa, are youngsters, and 27 per cent are girls.
Rising non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids and drug use issues are harming well being and public security, because the area continues to be closely affected by unlawful tramadol imports.
On the similar time, Ms. Waly knowledgeable, West Africa has emerged as a producer of methamphetamine, primarily destined for markets in East and Southeast Asia.
Better safety threats are being posed by cocaine trafficking, with West Africa serving as a serious transit space for onward shipments to Western and Central Europe, in addition to hashish resin trafficking.
“The worth of those illicit flows exceeds the nationwide budgets of some transit nations, which is extremely destabilizing on this advanced safety state of affairs”, Ms. Waly mentioned.
Basic Assimi Goita, chief of the navy junta that has overthrown the Malian authorities twice prior to now two years., by © Michele Cattani
Extra sanctions for Mali
Additionally on Monday, the Authority of Heads of State and Authorities of the ECOWAS determined to uphold sanctions already imposed on Mali and on transitional navy authorities, who seized energy in a coup final Might, and impose further measures.
ECOWAS leaders famous the failure of the navy authorities to stay to an settlement to carry Presidential elections earlier than 27 February of this yr, opposite to a deal reached in September of 2020.
In a press release, the Authority mentioned it “deeply deplores the plain and blatant lack of political will from the Transition authorities”.
It additionally says the brand new calendar, submitted on 8 January, and setting the period of the transition for a complete of 5 and a half years, is “completely unacceptable.”
“This calendar merely implies that an illegitimate navy transition Authorities will take the Malian individuals hostage throughout the subsequent 5 years”, the assertion says.
Among the many further sanctions, the Authority determined to shut land and air borders between ECOWAS nations and Mali, and droop all business and monetary transactions, excluding meals and pharmaceutical merchandise, medical provides and tools, and petroleum merchandise and electrical energy.
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