Giovanie Biha, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge of UNOWAS, made this statement on Tuesday in New York while presenting the most recent UNOWAS report covering trends and events over the past six months.
Ms. Biha stated that the office had also witnessed the historic signing of a Peace Accord between political parties in Nigeria to promote peaceful elections.
"In December 2022, the Mission facilitated the first of six state-level forums to promote peaceful elections in the state of Kaduna," "In Benin, peaceful parliamentary elections were held only two days ago," she stated.
According to her, even if West Africa and the Sahel continue to face tremendous security concerns, it is also a "region of enormous opportunity."
The UN official, however, asked ambassadors to continue to support a policy centred on building resilience, promoting good governance, and enhancing peace and security.
"Despite the efforts of national security forces and international partners, insecurity has worsened in significant portions of the region once again. "Operations by armed organisations, violent extremists, and criminal networks forced the closure of over 10,000 schools, affecting millions of children, and over 7,000 health institutions," she stated.
She stated that these non-state groups are fighting among themselves for supremacy and control of resources, which is pushing states to the brink and generating unfathomable agony for millions of refugees who have fled to other countries for protection.
"Indeed, the central Sahel continues to face multifaceted issues, unprecedented levels of security and humanitarian challenges, socio-political instability aggravated by climate change, and food shortages exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine," she continued.
Simultaneously, countries along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea have experienced an uptick in attacks on their territory, endangering transport routes to landlocked states to the north.
Ms. Biha commented on UNOWAS's actions, including its efforts to build political agreement and level the playing field in advance of elections this year in countries such as Nigeria.
(Source: gazettengr.com)
