“If nothing is done, the effects of terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime will be felt far beyond the region and the African continent,” said the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his words issued by the office of his spokesperson.
“A a coordinated international breakthrough is urgently needed. We need to rethink our collective approach and be creative, going beyond existing efforts.
The insecurity is further aggravating a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”, he said, leaving some national governments under siege, with no access to their own citizens.
“Deadly grip” clamping
Meanwhile, “non-state armed groups tighten their lethal grip on the region and even seek to expand their presence in the Gulf of Guinea countries.
The indiscriminate use of violence by terrorist and other groups means that thousands of innocent civilians are suffering, while millions more are being forced from their homes, Guterres said at the national leaders’ meeting during of the High Level Week summit.
“Women and children are particularly the most affected of insecurity, violence and growing inequalities”, he said, the human rights violations, sometimes committed by the security forces mandated to protect civilians, “being very worrying”.
Climate factor
And the crises are compounded by climate change, the UN chief said, with soil erosion and the drying up of water sources, “as well as contributing to acute food insecurity and exacerbating tensions between farmers and herders.”
“In a global context of turmoil in the energy, food and financial markets, the region is threatened by a systemic debt crisis this is likely to have repercussions on the whole continent.
Conventional international financial remedies are not helping, the UN chief said bluntly, as more and more countries are being forced to channel precious reserves into debt service, leaving them unable to pursue an inclusive recovery or to strengthen their resilience.
“He is absolutely necessary to change the rules of the game of the financial reports of the world. These rules of the game are today completely contrary to the interests of developing countries, and in particular the interests of African countries”, declared Mr. Guterres, “with problems of debt, with problems of liquidity, with problems of inflation, with the instability necessarily caused by this profound injustice in international financial and economic relations.
Democracy, constitutional order
The UN chief called for a “renew our collective efforts to promote democratic governance and restore constitutional orderacross the entire Sahel, stretching from Senegal in the west to northern Eritrea and Ethiopia in the east, a belt under the Sahara of up to 1,000 kilometers.
The rule of law and full respect for human rights are essential for ensuring security and sustainable development, Mr. Guterres said.
Addressing national leaders and senior politicians in the region, he said the UN “stands ready to work with you, with urgency and solidarity, for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Sahel.”
