HEADS OF UN PEACE MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA TO MEET IN DAKAR, SENEGAL, 20 FEBRUARY

HEADS OF UN PEACE MISSIONS IN WEST AFRICA TO MEET IN DAKAR, SENEGAL 20 FEBRUARY

DAKAR, 16 February (UNOWA) -- A high-level meeting of all five heads of United Nations peace missions in West Africa will be held on Gorée island, on 20 February 2004.  Hosted by the United Nations Office for West Africa, (UNOWA), the meeting will be chaired by Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah (UNOWA), and attended by Albert Tevoedjre (United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire -- MINUCI), Jacques Klein (United Nations Mission in Liberia -- UNMIL), Daudi Ngelautwa Mwakawago (United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone -- UNAMSIL), and David Stephen (United Nations Peace-building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau -- UNOGBIS).

The high-level meeting, which aims at furthering progress in harmonizing policies and activities of the United Nations peace presences in West Africa, will review the overall situation in West Africa and discuss specific cross-border issues of regional interest including:

-- Potential regional consequences of the drawdown of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone;

-- Cross-border humanitarian impact of crises, especially in Guineaforestiere;

-- Regional impact of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire;

-- Further political and military cooperation among United Nations peace missions in West Africa.

The first high-level meeting of United Nations missions in West Africa took place at UNAMSIL headquarters in Freetown last November, at which heads of missions agreed to maintain a regular mechanism of consultation.  Welcoming this initiative, the members of the United Nations Security Council have called for United Nations presences in West Africa to take concrete action towards implementing a regional approach, including pulling together United Nations assets across the region and exploiting synergies between the missions to achieve greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

The meeting will be followed by a press conference at the Gorée Institute at 4:30 p.m. to which all media are invited.

For more information on the United Nations Office for West Africa, please visit the Web site at:  www.un.org/unowa or contact Myriam Dessables, tel.:  +221 849 07 29

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