UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The members of the United Nations Security Council are leaving New York Thursday evening on a visiting mission to Mali and Burkina Faso.
The main objective of the visiting mission is to "assess progress and encourage further implementation of the 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali," according to the Security Council Report (SCR), whose mission is to advance the transparency and effectiveness of the Security Council.
Other two main objectives of the visiting mission are assessing the status of the operationalization of the joint force of the G5 Sahel (FC-G5S) after a six-month hiatus following a terrorist attack against its headquarters in central Mali in June 2018 and seeking to focus on the degradation of the security situation in Burkina Faso.
This is the fourth council visiting mission to Mali since the establishment of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2013. The council previously visited the country in February 2014, March 2016 and October 2017 (when it also went to Burkina Faso and Mauritania).
This visit takes place three months before the renewal of the mission's mandate in June. Upon returning to New York, the council is expected to hold a ministerial meeting on Mali, featuring a briefing by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the participation of Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga.
After a long process of dialogue and negotiation, a peace accord had finally been concluded in May 2015 between the Malian Government and two coalitions of armed groups that were fighting the government and against each other, namely the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and the Platform of armed groups (the Platform).
