The Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamat ANNADIF, participated in the 3rd Forum of Governors of the Lake Chad Basin, held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from October 4 to 5, 2021.

The objective of this 3rd Forum was to assess the humanitarian and security development in the Lake Chad basin, progress in the implementation of stabilization interventions, as well as the contribution of civil society to the stabilization of the region. During the two days,  participants also reviewed the state of cooperation, exchanged views on the opportunities and challenges of cross-border cooperation, and examined the different options for rehabilitating and reintegrating the persons formerly associated with Boko Haram.

During the opening ceremony, M. ANNADIF reiterated the full support of UNOWAS for a stable and prosperous Lake Chad basin which, according to him, is not only the key for the countries concerned to achieve their development potential for their populations, but a sine qua non for regional peace and security.

Stressing the importance of developing and coordinating responses to face the challenges that threaten the different sub-regions, M. ANNADIF added that it is imperative to identify the links between the situations in the Lake Chad basin and the Sahel, and explore appropriate programmatic responses to address trans-regional threats.

In this regard, he recalled the urgency of strengthening the links between the regional stabilization strategy for the Lake Chad basin and the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS).

At the close of the Forum, the organizers as well as the participants reiterated their firm commitment to strengthen their efforts for stabilization, consolidation of peace and sustainable development in the region of the Lake Chad Basin.