Report of the Security Council mission to the Sahel region, 19 to 22 October 2017

The Security Council conducted a field mission to the Sahel from 19 to 22 October, during which it visited Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. The visit was jointly led by France, Ethiopia and Italy and was part of the Security Council’s close monitoring of the issue of the joint force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-5 Sahel). One of the goals of the visit, which began the day after the issuance of the report on the operationalization of the Joint Force (S/2017/869), was to provide the members of the Council with a first-hand assessment of the situation on the ground and an opportunity exchange views with the various actors on the ground of the Secretary-General’s recommendations aimed at strengthening international support for the Joint Force. They focused in particular on the implementation of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, in line with the Council’s conviction that there canbe no lasting stability in the Sahel without effective, comprehensive and inclusive implementation of the provisions of the Agreement.