New York: The security situation across the Sahel is deteriorating rapidly, threatening peace and security in West Africa's coastal States and beyond, delegates warned the Security Council today, condemning the deliberate targeting and exploitation of women and girls caught in the crossfire.
According to EMM, Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), highlighted that the Sahel is where the world's gravest concerns converge, including terrorism, coups, environmental collapse, poverty, hunger, and dwindling development financing. She emphasized that these crises disproportionately impact women and girls, with over 1 million girls in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso out of school due to terrorist threats. She urged governments and regional bodies to ensure women's participation in transitional governments and peace and security efforts, advocating for at least 15 per cent of violent extremism prevention funding to be invested in gender equality.
Levinia Addae-Mensah, Executive Director of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, echoed the multi-layered insecurities confronting women in West Africa. She noted that women exhibit tremendous capacity to foster change, especially in peacebuilding efforts in the Sahel. Despite existing frameworks and National Action Plans, the translation into sustainable transformation remains weak due to underfunding and the perception of women's participation as an add-on rather than a strategic imperative.
Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), presented the Secretary-General’s report on the region's complex security landscape. He noted the surge in terrorist activity and the increasing recruitment of young people by extremist groups. He highlighted the joint efforts of the Alliance of Sahel States in establishing a Criminal Court in Bamako to address serious crimes, emphasizing the need for resource mobilization to address acute food insecurity and malnutrition in the region.
Denmark's delegate stressed the urgent need for justice and protection mechanisms for women facing horrific human rights violations. She urged for women's full and meaningful participation across all processes. Similarly, Slovenia's representative emphasized the systematic nature of sexual and gender-based violence, calling for the essential leadership of women and girls in addressing these issues.
Sierra Leone's delegate, speaking on behalf of several countries, highlighted the unprecedented surge in terrorist and extremist violence, demanding coordinated action to address the humanitarian crisis and promote peacebuilding efforts. Pakistan's delegate underscored the importance of addressing the root causes of terrorism and supporting African-led solutions.
The representative for the Republic of Korea cited data from the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, highlighting the Sahel region's significant share of global terrorism-related deaths. Greece's delegate pointed to the evolving threats in the Gulf of Guinea, emphasizing the need for continued naval coordination to prevent exploitation of maritime routes by extremist groups.
The delegates from the United States, Russian Federation, France, China, and Panama emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism, balancing security and development efforts, and fostering regional unity to effectively address the ongoing crises in the Sahel.