Africa

Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Horst Köhler, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, as his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners have begun relocating more than 33,000 Congolese refugees from over-crowded reception centres in northern Angola to a newly established settlement in Lóvua, some 100 kilometres further inland, where they will all receive a plot of land on which to build shelters and grow food.

The Group of Five Sahel States (G5 Sahel) Joint Force to combat trans-border terrorism and organized crime could make a significant contribution to stabilizing the region by working in tandem with other ongoing initiatives, a senior United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ruby Sandhu-Rojon as his new Deputy Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel.

The International Organization for Migration has released a report profiling migrants passing through its West Africa transit centres.  It reveals wide-spread misinformation about what awaits migrants on their journeys and in countries of temporary residence, particularly Algeria and Libya, where migrants reported abusive treatment, physical violence, and/or threats.

Donors, neighbouring countries and other partners must invest in holistic solutions to the multiple crises faced by Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and felt disproportionately by women and girls — the Security Council heard today as it was briefed on a unique joint mission to the region.

The cholera outbreak in Yemen has spread to all but 1 of its 22 governorates, with more than 480,000 suspected cases and nearly 2,000 associated deaths from diarrhoea-related diseases, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports.  There are concerns the numbers could rise as Yemen heads into its rainy season.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Security Council meeting on peace and security in Africa, in New York today:

The Security Council today welcomed recent positive political developments in some West African countries, but expressed concern over the threat of terrorism in the region — including attacks by Boko Haram and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) — as well as a worsening humanitarian situation.

The United Nations and the African Union had a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalated and to manage them effectively when they occurred, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council today in an open debate on enhancing African capacities in peace and security.