Extremist attacking terror groups, poor border security and the trafficking of people, illicit goods, weapons and drugs in countries of the G5 Sahel – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – severely hamper opportunities for growth and development and it is the civilians who pay the highest price.
It was for this reason that Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, has called on the Security Council to provide enhanced support to the G5-Sahel Joint Force, saying the region was still highly volatile and fraught with insecurity and instability.
Although it remained so, Lacroix acknowledged that “in recent weeks, the joint force has also demonstrated its ability to quickly mount ad hoc operations, such Operation Serres d’aigle, to respond to imminent attacks on the people of Burkina Faso”.
He said that since it was first deployed in 2017, the G5-Sahel Joint Force “has continually increased its operational tempo and has managed to maintain it, despite the significant challenges”.
But, after a recent assessment conducted by the UN Secretariat, Lacroix believed there was a risk that the joint force would lose the gains it had made, at a time when it remained an essential part of a collective security response. Created more than three years ago, the G5 Sahel Joint Force, made up of 5,000 troops provided by Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, was still struggling to convince its effectiveness.
Faced with these multiple challenges, Lacroix defended his call for the creation of a support office.
“It is the collective responsibility of the international community to support the efforts of the G5-Sahel member states,” he said.
The support given to the joint force by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) depended on donor funding, which remained unpredictable.
The proposed dedicated support office would be financed by assessed contributions, which would provide support for the needs of the G5-Sahel Joint Force and also enable it to become more effective.
France was already encouraging predictable and sustainable support for the G5 Sahel Joint Force, while Mexico had made it conditional on political guarantees from the countries involved.
Britain and the United States were opposed the proposal. They said the UN was not an “appropriate vehicle” to provide logistical support to the G5 Sahel Joint Force.
Both countries viewed the joint force as a coalition of security forces mandated to conduct counterterrorism operations, primarily within their own borders.
Chad, a member of the G5 Sahel, strongly supported the establishment of a UN support office, saying it would help to put an end to the concern about funding and enable it to focus on its fundamental mission of bringing security to the region.
India denounced the differences within the Security Council, saying these had allowed terrorists to extend their influence. It supported Lacroix: “If we do not do this, we risk being confronted with greater security problems in the years to come.”
Russia had not made a definitive statement. However, it said it was available to examine the proposals carefully but emphasised that everything would depend on the sources of financing and expenses related to the creation of such an office.
Lacroix said the support office would aid the G5 Sahel countries in several other cross-cutting areas. “I would like to emphasise that the dedicated support office is our first recommended option and the advisory office is our second best option.”
He said the G5 Sahel states had made significant progress in preventing and mitigating human rights abuses by members of its armed and security forces during counterterrorism operations and had protected civilians through enhanced patrols.
Lacroix said security efforts alone were not enough to address the crisis in the Sahel and that a holistic approach was needed to tackle governance deficits and the root causes of poverty and exclusion.
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