‘Arms Trafficking, Organised Crime, Terrorism Threatening Sahel Region’
United Nations Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon said Friday that terrorism, trafficking in arms, drugs and other
transnational forms of organised crime were threatening security in
sub-Saharan Sahel region of Africa.
According to News Agency of Nigeria report, he briefed the UN Security Council on the dire report at the start of a meeting on the situation in the region.
“The Sahel’s vast size and long, porous borders mean that such challenges can be addressed successfully only if the countries of the region work together,” he said.
The meeting was also addressed by World Bank President, Jim Kim, and Romano Prodi, the UN Secretary-General’s Special envoy for the Sahel.
He said, ``The United Nations will continue its efforts to promote security, good governance and resilience”.
Ban called also for more to be done to address food crises that plague the Sahel as well as to improve conditions in migrants’ communities of origin while generating more legal opportunities for migrants to work abroad.
He recalled his visit with Kim last month to four Sahel countries of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, citing a ‘very moving” visit he made to Timbuktu in northern Mali, a region seized by radical Islamists in 2012 before they were driven out by French-led forces.
“People there are struggling to recover from human rights abuses and upheaval.
“I was given an opportunity to view the cultural treasures that had been damaged in attacks.
“This was a terrible loss for Mali and for our common global heritage, but with UNESCO’s help, we are moving to safeguard it,” he stated.
He said that in spite of the progress made toward re-establishing constitutional order in Mali, which over the past two years had witnessed a military coup d’état, fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of the North by the Islamists, that he remained concerned with the security situation.
Ban called for continued strengthening of the UN Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali.
According to News Agency of Nigeria report, he briefed the UN Security Council on the dire report at the start of a meeting on the situation in the region.
“The Sahel’s vast size and long, porous borders mean that such challenges can be addressed successfully only if the countries of the region work together,” he said.
The meeting was also addressed by World Bank President, Jim Kim, and Romano Prodi, the UN Secretary-General’s Special envoy for the Sahel.
He said, ``The United Nations will continue its efforts to promote security, good governance and resilience”.
Ban called also for more to be done to address food crises that plague the Sahel as well as to improve conditions in migrants’ communities of origin while generating more legal opportunities for migrants to work abroad.
He recalled his visit with Kim last month to four Sahel countries of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad, citing a ‘very moving” visit he made to Timbuktu in northern Mali, a region seized by radical Islamists in 2012 before they were driven out by French-led forces.
“People there are struggling to recover from human rights abuses and upheaval.
“I was given an opportunity to view the cultural treasures that had been damaged in attacks.
“This was a terrible loss for Mali and for our common global heritage, but with UNESCO’s help, we are moving to safeguard it,” he stated.
He said that in spite of the progress made toward re-establishing constitutional order in Mali, which over the past two years had witnessed a military coup d’état, fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of the North by the Islamists, that he remained concerned with the security situation.
Ban called for continued strengthening of the UN Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali.
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