UN to consider regional security

The United Nations Security Council meets in New York headquarters on Thursday to look at ways to tackle cross-border security issues in the troubled West Africa region. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will present his report, which has been over seven months in preparation, and is expected to call for greater regional integration in tackling issues such as mercenaries, child-soldiers, and the proliferation of small arms. “These cross border problems represent very serious obstacles for peace and security in the sub-region. I hope that this report, and it’s recommendations will …empower the countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to move forward on these issues which are of the utmost importance for the peace and stability of the region,” said Ahmedou Ould-Abdalla the UN Secretary General Special Representative for West Africa. West Africa is a region beset by crisis and warfare. Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone have all had, or are about to receive, substantial UN peacekeeping missions. A 6,000-strong UN peacekeeping force is scheduled for deployment in Cote d’Ivoire from mid-April. But recent developments there appear to have put the peace process in jeopardy. On Thursday, heavy casualties were reported in the economic capital, Abidjan, when a banned protest march for peace met with heavy resistance from security forces. Many regional observers believe that Cote d’Ivoire’s troubles, like those of other states in West Africa, should not be viewed in isolation. Combatants from the civil war in neighbouring Liberia are known to have fought in Cote d’Ivoire’s western region during the September 2002 rebellion and the civil war that followed. Porous borders and poor governance are amongst the factors likely to be cited by the forthcoming report, which is also expected to recommend a more regional approach from the Security Council in finding solutions to problems in West Africa. The achieve this the report is expected to advocate a greater integration between active peacekeeping forces in the region – UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (MINUCI). In a report published in November, the Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG), said that the UN had had a considerable opportunity to drive events and take control of the insecurity in the sub-region with its three peacekeeping missions along the West African coast in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia.