Pakistan Tuesday called for a comprehensive strategy that combines effective security responses with measures addressing the root causes of terrorism and violent extremism in the West Africa Sahel region in a bid to wipe out the menace.
“Strengthening regional cooperation remains indispensable,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council, which held a briefing on the activities of United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).
“The grave terrorist threat across West Africa and the Sahel such as the coordinated terrorist attacks in Mali, Niger and elsewhere remains a foremost concern which also underscores the need for sustained regional and international cooperation,” he said.
The debate was organized by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which hold the presidency of the 15-member Council for the month of July.
In his remarks, Ambassador Asim Ahmad highlighted Pakistan’s “longstanding, deep-rooted, and wide ranging” partnership with Africa, with Pakistani peacekeepers having served with distinction across the continent contributing to UN’s peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.
“We firmly believe that durable solutions entail national ownership, coordinated regional response and constructive international engagement and support,” he said, adding that discussions in the Council could be more productive if there were enhanced participation by the countries of the region and the regional and sub-regional organizations.
The international community, he said, must remain engaged in addressing the region’s broader humanitarian and development challenges.
“Persistent funding shortfalls that continue to undermine humanitarian response must be addressed,” the Pakistani delegate said, pointing out that lasting peace and security was linked to sustainable development, resilient institutions and expanded economic opportunities.
At the outset, Leonardo Santos Simao, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, said terrorist and non-State armed groups are adapting their operations through drones, sophisticated communications and cryptocurrencies.
The problem is acute, especially in the central Sahel and northern Nigeria, rapidly targeting coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea.
“Their actions intersect with transnational organized crime, and are aimed at consolidating territorial and economic control, erosion of public confidence in State authority, with serious damage to social cohesion,” Simao warned.
“The human cost of the violence is devastating,” he added.