10 Dec 2012

UN / SAHEL

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sahel, Romano Prodi told the Security Council today that any military effort in Mali must be undertaken after careful analysis and thorough preparation and must be part of an agreed political process. UNTV

Posted at: December 10, 2012 4:27 pm

Duration: 02:35

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / SAHEL
TRT: 2.35
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
 
DATELINE: 10 DECEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE -  2012, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters

10 DECEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Member States representatives before the meeting
3. Wide shot, delegates greeting each other
4. Wide shot, Security Council chamber
5. Med shot, representatives of India and Guatemala
6. SOUNDBITE (English) SC President Saad Dine El Othmani, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Morocco:
"The Security Council remains seriously concerned over the insecurity and the significant ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region, which is further complicated by the presence of armed groups, including separatist movements, terrorists and criminal networks, and their increased activities, as well as the continued proliferation of weapons from within and outside the region - that threaten peace, security and stability of States in this region."
7. Med shot, representatives of US and UK
8. SOUNDBITE (English) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
"The warning lights for the Sahel region continue to flash. Political turmoil, terrorist activity, drug trafficking and arms smuggling are spilling over borders and threatening peace and security. Extreme climatic conditions and fragile economies only add to this toxic brew of vulnerability. This year alone, an estimated 18.7 million people have been affected by food insecurity. Over one million children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition.  The governments and people of the Sahel region need our full support."
9. Med shot, representatives of France and Germany
10.  SOUNDBITE (English) Romano Prodi, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sahel:
"We must make every effort to get our goals (unity, democracy, humanitarian help and development) through peaceful means and negotiations. An extended military action brings always as a consequence not only a humanitarian tragedy but enormous financial costs and extended period of economic crisis."
11. Wide shot, representatives of China and Colombia
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees:
"I urge all actors in the conflict, including a potential international force, to protect humanitarian space and ensure agencies have unhindered access to affected populations. In this context, the autonomy of humanitarian space, with a clear separation of the civilian and military spheres of any international presence is of fundamental importance."
13. Wide shot, Security Council meeting ends

STORYLINE

"The warning lights for the Sahel region continue to flash," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (10 December) told the Security Council, as it met to discuss the situation in a region that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and includes Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and parts of Sudan, Cameroon and Nigeria.

In addition to political instability in Mali, the region – particularly in its west – suffers from extreme poverty, with human development levels among the lowest in the world, porous borders that present significant security challenges, as well as human rights problems.

Ban also underlined that political turmoil, terrorist activity, drug trafficking and arms smuggling are spilling over borders and threatening peace and security.  Ban stressed that the governments and people of the Sahel region need full support.

In September, the Secretary-General appointed former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi as his Special Envoy for the Sahel, and tasked him with shaping and mobilizing an effective UN and international response to the crisis in the region. Among the envoy's priorities is finalizing and implementing the UN Integrated Regional Strategy for the Sahel.

Prodi told the Security Council today that any military effort in Mali must be undertaken after careful analysis and thorough preparation and must be part of an agreed political process.

The number of Malian refugees in neighbouring countries is now estimated at more than 140,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, who said his agency is facing "significant" challenges in assisting this vulnerable group. Most of the refugees are hosted in remote, arid areas, and it takes several days of driving on poor roads to provide them with food, water and medical supplies.

Guterres said that Member States must give full consideration to the humanitarian dimensions of the crisis as they consider the appropriate international response.
He also urged all actors in the conflict, including a potential international force, to protect humanitarian space and ensure agencies have unhindered access to affected populations.

During today's meeting, the Security Council issued a presidential statement in which it, among other things, voiced serious concern over the insecurity and the significant ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region", which is further complicated by the presence of armed group as well as the continued proliferation of weapons from within and outside the region.

Fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels in Mali broke out in the country's north in January. Since then, radical Islamists have seized control of the north, where they have imposed an extremist version of Muslim Sharia law, as well as restrictions that target women in particular.

The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d'état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians this year.

UN military and police planners have worked closely with the regional grouping known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union, in consultation with Malian authorities, in developing a framework for possible military intervention in the north.