On 20 July, the AU PSC convened its 1162^nd meeting on the situation in the Sahel region. The meeting, which was chaired by the Permanent Representative of Senegal and Chairperson of the PSC for the month of July, Ambassador Mohamed Lamine Thiaw, received briefings from the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Bankole Adeoye; the AU High Representative for Mali and the Sahel (MISAHEL), Ambassador Mamman Sambo Sidikou; representatives of the ECOWAS, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the European Union (EU) delegation to the AU, and SRSG to the AU and Head of UNOAU, Parfait Onanga-Ayanga. Among other speakers, representatives of the Group of Five (G5) Secretariat, the G5 Force Commander, and the G5 member States namely Chad, Niger and Mauritania, also made interventions.

In their remarks, Ambassador Thiaw and Commissioner Bankole highlighted that despite the collective interventions of the AU, ECOWAS, the UN and international partners in the Sahel, the security situation has worsened as terrorist attacks, violent extremist and climate change-induced crises continue to create dire humanitarian situations, massive displacement, and intercommunal conflict.

In his statement, SRSG Onanga-Anyanga highlighted that the scale of insecurity in the Sahel perpetrated by terrorist and extremist networks was increasingly alarming despite national, regional and international efforts. Outlining the plight of the region, he stated that about 6 million people have been forcibly displaced, 5.4 million were internally displaced, and 1.2 million were in refugees’ camps. He stated that an estimated US$4.6 billion is needed to respond to the needs of IDPs and refugees across the region, covering Burkina Faso, Cameroon (Far North), Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria (North-East).  Further, he stated that while the situation calls for the urgent collective responses of the international community, the recent termination of MINUSMA’s mandate threatens to exacerbate insecurity both in Mali and the region. In this regard, he maintained that such a response should not only focus on addressing the prevailing insecurity but must also encompass dialogue and mediation with Malian authorities and other relevant stakeholders and support the complex transition processes in Guinea and Burkina Faso.

He noted that any agreement on a new collective approach must take into account the outcome of the ongoing Independent High-Level Panel on Security and Development in the Sahel. He further surmised that the AU, UN and partners’ actions and responses to the situation in the Sahel needed to be mutually reinforcing and must recognize the primacy of politics and the imperative of addressing governance concerns, as well as the critical issues of sustainable development and the impact of climate change. He concluded by expressing the UN’s continued commitment to this collective and comprehensive course.

Delegations at the meeting expressed deep concern about the recent termination of the mandate of MINUSMA, and the potential security impact this would have on Mali and the region at large. In this regard, several presentations recommended the immediate adoption of a cross-regional strategy for the prevention of terrorism and violent extremism in the region in line with the Accra Initiative.

Further, the PSC welcomed the decision by ECOWAS leaders taken at its 63^rd extraordinary Summit held on 18 July, to establish a Presidential Task Force to reflect on the impact of MINUSMA’s withdrawal and related security matters. The meeting also welcomed the impending PSC field visit to the Sahel scheduled to take place from 26 to 29 July and envisaged that the visit would provide recommendations for addressing the challenges in the region, including the consideration of a successor mechanism to address the security void expected from the withdrawal of MINUSMA.