Communique of the AU PSC on its 863rd meeting held on 25 July 2019 on the situation in Mali and the Sahel

UNION AFRICAINE

jufo juhi

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PEACE AND SECURTY COUNCIL 863^rd MEETING

23 JULY 2019 ADDIS ABABA

PSC/PR/COMM. (DCCCLXIII)

COMMUNIQUE

COMMUNIQUE

Adopted by the Peace and Security Council during its 863^rd meeting held on 25 July 2019 on the situation in Mali and the Sahel,

The Peace and Security Council,

Noting the statements made by Ambassador Sebade Toba, Permanent Representative of the Togolese Republic to the African Union and Chairperson of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) for July 2019 and Dr Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, Acting Head of the Crisis Management and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Division of the Peace and Security Department, representing the Director for Peace and Security and speaking on behalf of the AU Peace and Security Commissioner, Ambassador Smail Chergui, as well as the presentation made by the High Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Mali and Sahel, H. E. former President Pierre Buyoya; Also noting the presentations made by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mali, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Niger in his capacity as the current Chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Republic of Burkina Faso in its capacity as Chair of the G5 Sahel, as well as the UN Special Representative to the African Union;

Recalling its previous communiques and press statements on the situation in Mali and in the Sahel region, in particular communiques [PSC/PR/COMM.(DCCCXXXIX)], [PSC/PR/COMM.(DCCLIX)] and [PSC/PR/COMM.(DCLXXIX)] adopted during its 839^th, 759^th and 679^th meetings held on 9 April 2019, 23 March 2018 and 13 April 2017, respectively;

Reajfirming its commitment to respect the sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Mali;

Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council:

1. Commends the efforts made by the President of the Republic of Mali, H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, to improve the political situation in his country ; to that end, Council noted with appreciation the adherence to the Political Agreement of 2 May 2019, namely the outcome of the inclusive political dialogue that enabled the formation of the Government of a broad consensus, as well as an agreement for the extension of the mandate of the current legislature until 2 May 2020 ; requests the President and the Government of the Republic of Mali to continue with consultations to reach a broad consensus on the constitutional review process within the framework of the implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, resulting from the Algiers process in 2015;

2. Takes note of the efforts made to accelerate the implementation of the Peace Agreement, in particular the updating of the Roadmap during the 36^th meeting of the Follow­up Committee of the Agreement (CSA) held on the 15 July 2019 in Bamako, Mali, as well as the state of progress in the setting up of funds for the development of the northern regions of Mali; Council however emphasizes the urgent need for the Malians parties to make all efforts to further accelerate the implementation of the Algiers Agreement, which remains the most viable framework for the resolution of the crisis in Northern and central Mali;

3. Reiterates, once again, its deep concern with over deterioration of the security situation in Mali and in the Sahel region in general, notably the proliferation of violent and deadly incidents of a cross-community nature, which armed terrorists groups are manipulating; reaffirms its solidarity with the Governments and peoples of the Sahel-Sahara region, reiterates that the responsibility of protecting the populations of the Sahel against violence and abuses; and requests the Chairperson of the Commission to provide assistance to the concerned countries, in particular Mali and Burkina Faso, including through capacity building for local-level intra-communal conflict resolution, in order to avoid their exploitation by armed terrorists groups;

4. Reiterates its strong condemnation of the terrorists attacks against innocent civilian populations, communities and international forces in North and Central Mali, in Burkina Faso, as well as in Niger; and expresses its grave concern over the announcement of the growing presence of armed terrorist groups in the countries of the Gulf of Guinea;

5. Commends the efforts being deployed within the context of the Nouakchott process for enhancing the security cooperation and the operationalization of African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) in the Sahel -Sahara region; and in this context, Council takes note of the conclusions of the 10^th meeting of the Heads of Intelligence held on 25 and 26 April 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and calls for an in-depth discussion on the enhancement of the security cooperation in the region;

6. Further commends the efforts being deployed by the G5 Sahel Force in pursuit of its mandate ; stresses the need for the international community to intensify its financial and logistical support for the operations of the G5 Sahel Joint Task Force;

7. Welcomes the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decision, following its Assembly held on 28 June 2019, to hold an extraordinary Summit on 14 September 2019, to consider necessary measures to more effectively address the security situation in the Sahel region and in West Africa in general ; and to that end, the Council requests the Chairperson of the Commission to play an active role in this critical high level meeting which will be a starting point for a greater ownership of peace and security initiatives by the countries of the region;

8. Underlines the need for an updated strategic review, led by the AU, with the participation of ECOWAS, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and the G5 Sahel, to assess the situation in the Sahel-Sahara region, in order to update the current strategies and initiatives, taking into account the evolution of the security and political situation since the joint AU-UN review undertaken in December 2011, which assessed the impact of the Libyan crisis on the counties of the region, as well as the coordination of various initiatives and the contribution of foreign /external forces operating in the region;

9. Stresses the need for a peaceful and consensual solution to the Libyan crisis which continues to impact negatively on the security and the stability of the neighboring countries;

10. Welcomes the adoption of Resolution 2840 (2019) by the United Nations Security Council on June 28 2019, in which it renewed the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Mission for Stabilization in Mali (MINUSMA) ; reaffirms its full support to MINUSMA and takes note with appreciation of the innovations that are contained in its new mandate, notably the support extended to the ongoing operations of the G5 Sahel, as well as the strengthening of its presence in the central regions of Mali; _anc| _pays tribute to troop and police contributing countries to the MINUSMA;

11. Decides to undertake, in November 2019, a joint field mission with the European Union Political and Security Committee (EUPSC) to assess the situation in the region and ascertain the required support for promotion of peace, security and stabilization of the Sahel region;

12. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.