The United Nations to reinforce inter-regional cooperation

The Heads of the United Nations Offices for West Africa (UNOWA) and Central Africa (UNOCA) held their first consultation in Dakar as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration on issues of peace and security in the two African sub-regions.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, Said Djinnit and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, Abou Moussa highlighted the need for reinforced cooperation to address the growing regional dimension of the threats to peace and stability. In this regard, they underlined the importance of promoting the regional approach in conflict prevention and peace building through capacity building of sub-regional organizations.

«Through the collaboration between UNOWA and UNOCA and strengthening our support to the efforts of sub-regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African states (ECCAS), we hope to foster inter-regional synergies, » they stated.

The Special Representatives exchanged views on common cross border threats in the two sub-regions including insecurity in the Sahel Band notably in the aftermath of the Libyan crisis and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

Abou Moussa gave a briefing on ongoing efforts to address the threat caused by the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa.

In his capacity as Chairman of the Cameroon Nigeria Mixed Commission, Said Djinnit briefed his colleague on the progress in the implementation of the International Court of Justice ruling related to the peaceful delimitation of the border between the two countries.

The Special Representatives agreed to meet on a regular basis and to facilitate a continuous exchange of information between the two Offices.

The mandates of UNOWA and UNOCA aim at harmonizing the approach of the United Nations towards peace and security in their respective regions. Established in Dakar (Senegal) UNOWA is the UN first regional office and cover West African countries. UNOCA was inaugurated in Libreville (Gabon) on 2 March 2011 and covers Central Africa.