April 3, 2025
Merci Monsieur le Président. And let me thank Special Representative Simão for your informative briefing. We commend your efforts to promote long-term stability and peace in West Africa and the Sahel. And thank you Ms. Abiola-Akiyode for your enlightening remarks.
I’d like to make five points today. First, as your report makes clear, there is an urgent need for improved regional security and cooperation amidst a volatile environment. We recognize UNOWAS can play a key role to expand and elevate regional diplomatic solutions to achieve regional peace and security cooperation. We appreciate the SRSG’s engagements across the region, including with UNOCA’s leadership, on cross-border political and security issues.
Second, the United States condemns in the strongest terms the March 21 attack by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in Korokorou, Niger, which killed at least 44 civilians.
This attack is a concerning example of the expanding terrorist threat posed by ISIS and al-Qaida affiliated groups in the region, further contributing to displacement and regional insecurity. Governments are struggling to retain and reclaim control over territory and are witnessing record levels of violence against both military and civilian populations. The spillover from this escalation of attacks is increasingly being felt in Coastal West Africa, and the United States believes it’s vital to increase engagement with regional partners to curtail extremist groups’ expansion.
In the Lake Chad region, the United States condemns the violence and disregard for human life perpetrated by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. We condemn the March 24 attack that claimed the lives of 12 Cameroonian soldiers. While the region continues to coordinate its counterterrorism efforts, it is clear these terrorist groups remain a threat. The United States will continue to work with regional partners to counter these threats.
Member States’ efforts to counter terrorism must expand beyond security-centered approaches and include comprehensive efforts to prevent and deter emerging terrorist threats. Also, Member States must respect human rights and the rule of law in responding to terrorist threats. Experience has shown this isn’t just the right thing to do, it also stems terrorist recruitment and impedes accelerating cycles of violence.
Third, we support UNOWAS’s role in facilitating continued dialogue between the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES, and ECOWAS on vital economic and political relations, in addition to regional security cooperation, following the AES’s withdrawal from ECOWAS. The implications of this exit will have economic and security consequences not just for AES and ECOWAS Member States, but for all of Africa.
Fourth, we cannot discuss peace and security in the Sahel and West Africa without mentioning the crisis unfolding in Sudan, which is also affecting the UNOWAS area of responsibility. We call on the belligerents to end the violence now.
And finally, Mr. President, we are concerned about the rapid escalation of the armed and political conflict between South Sudan’s leaders. By all accounts, the country is on the brink of civil war – again. Another civil war in South Sudan would not only imperil the lives and livelihoods of South Sudanese, but it would also have potentially catastrophic outcomes for the region.
Je vous remercie Monsieur le Président.