Press Releases

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, concluded today a two-day pre-electoral visit to Ghana. The objective of this visit was to engage with authorities and other stakeholders on the…

Dakar, 28 June 2024 - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, arrived today in Nouakchott, Mauritania, for a three-day visit. The visit is part of the United Nations' ongoing commitment…

Dakar, 28 June 2024 - The annual conference of the West African Bar Association (WABA) concluded yesterday in Cotonou, Benin. Organized from June 25 to 27 in partnership with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), the objective of the conference was to adopt the statutes…

Message from the SRSG, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, on the occasion of the 2024 International LGBTIQ+ Pride Day “Ensuring the effective enjoyment of human rights and freedoms for all, leaving no one behind, is at the heart of the United Nations mission worldwide. This is why today, 28 June, International…

Yaounde, on 27 June 2024 - The Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission established pursuant to the Joint Communiqué adopted at the Summit which took place in Geneva on 15 November 2002 between His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon and His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, then…

[ near verbatim] RJMEC Chair, Excellencies and distinguished guests, I thank the RJMEC for the opportunity to brief you today. Since we last met, I note the renewed interest by the transitional government for inclusion by engaging the non-signatory groups and stakeholders under the auspices of the…

The 61st round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) took place on 25-26 June 2024 in accordance with the six-point agreement of 12 August 2008 and implementing measures of 8 September 2008. In Working Group I, the participants engaged in active, at times tense, exchanges of views on the…

Dakar, 2 6 June 2024- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simão, was received yesterday in audience by the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, H.E. Alassane Ouattara. The discussions focused…

Message from SRSG Carlos Ruiz Massieu on the second anniversary of the Truth Commission's Final Report “On the second anniversary of the presentation of the Truth Comission’s Final Report, I would like to reaffirm the importance of implementing its recommendations, which are instrumental in ensuring…

Kinshasa, 25 June 2024 — The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today closed its Bukavu office, the nerve centre of its South Kivu operations for more than 20 years with a high-level event. On 30 June, as agreed with the Government of…