West Africa (UNOWA)

Expected Council Action
In December the Council is expected to consider the Secretary-General’s report on UNOWA and to renew the mandate of the mission, which expires on 31 December. The head of UNOWA, Said Djinnit, may brief the Council.

Key Recent Developments
On 18 November the head of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) briefed Council members in consultations on the latest developments in Guinea, in the wake of the 15 November announcement of the provisional results in the second round of the country’s presidential elections and the 17 November declaration of a state of emergency by the government.

In a statement to the press after the meeting, the Council president indicated that members had:

• welcomed the run-off in Guinea’s presidential elections on 7 November and the high voter turnout;
• deplored the violence that erupted following the announcement of the results of the run-off elections and urged political leaders in the country to refrain from actions likely to worsen tensions;
• took note of the provisional results of the run-off elections announced by the electoral commission and appealed to all parties to follow the existing legal procedure to resolve their differences peacefully and respect the final decision to be announced by the country’s Supreme Court;
• stressed the responsibility of Guinea’s security forces and government officials to maintain public order and to protect civilians; and
• paid tribute to the facilitation work being carried out by Djinnit and welcomed the determination of Guinea’s interim leader, General Sékouba Konaté, to pursue peaceful elections.

On 30 September, Djinnit chaired a meeting of senior UN mission officials from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone in Dakar, Senegal during which the participants drew up joint plans to enhance stability in the West African subregion, in light of the then-upcoming elections (e.g. in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea), and challenges posed by drug trafficking and organised crime.

On 13 July, Djinnit briefed the Council on the overall peace and stability of the West African subregion, which he described as having witnessed “significant progress in crisis prevention and peacebuilding amidst daunting difficulties and persistent challenges.” Djinnit told the Council that despite significant progress in peace consolidation, the subregion remained “at a crossroads, owing to the persistence of the root causes of conflicts in the region, such as social disparities, ethnic tensions and governance challenges.”

Key Issues
The key issue for Council members in December is assessing whether and how well UNOWA’s regional approach to peace consolidation in West Africa is working in such areas as mediation, elections and responses to challenges to peace and security.

A closely related issue is whether the Council to further fine-tune the mandate of UNOWA, beyond simply renewing its mandate, and enhance the office’s capacity for operations on the ground.

Council Dynamics
Council opinion on UNOWA has seen a marked shift since late 2007, when some members (e.g. the US) questioned the utility of the office. The current view is that the office is useful, especially in monitoring and addressing issues that threaten the subregion’s peace and security but may not be on the Council’s agenda, lack a UN mission or do not come up for regular consideration (e.g. Guinea, Niger, Togo, drug trafficking, organised crime and terrorism in the Sahel region of West Africa).

The question therefore for most Council members is not whether to renew UNOWA’s mandate, but rather how they could further fine-tune the mandate of the office and how long the mandate should be.

Nigeria is the lead country on this issue in the Council.

Other Relevant Facts

Full forecast