“The Sahel remains a priority for our institution”

9th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS), 21 October 2019 in Dakar.

9th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS), 21 October 2019 in Dakar.

21 Oct 2019

“The Sahel remains a priority for our institution”

9TH MEETING OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTEGRATED STRATEGY FOR THE SAHEL (UNISS)

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, chaired, on 21 October 2019 in Dakar, the 9th meeting of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS).

The objective of the 9th meeting was to review ongoing UN initiatives and achievements in the region, and how the implementation of UNISS could be further strengthened to address the growing complexity of the situation in the Sahel.

The success of our intervention in the Sahel relies on the partnerships we build and the way we coordinate our efforts, internally and externally

Reiterating the importance of the commitment of the United Nations to support the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas said in his opening remarks that “the Sahel remains a priority for our institution. The success of our intervention in the Sahel relies on the partnerships we build and the way we coordinate our efforts, internally and externally”.

UNOWAS, Heads and representatives of UN regional agencies and UN Resident coordinators from the region reviewed current trends in the region and the progress made in UN interventions. A number of joint-agency and cross-border initiatives in the Liptako-Gourma and Lake Chad Basin were showcased.

The agencies raised the continuous challenges facing the humanitarian response, in particular constraints to humanitarian access and protection. The participants stressed the need to ensure that resources are timely mobilized to help the governments of Sahel countries address, in an effective manner, governance, resilience, development and security challenges in the Sahel region.