New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations has once again expressed its grave concern about the health and safety of Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, and called for his immediate and unconditional release and reinstatement of his position as head of state. According to the UN news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning, Tuesday.
In response to questions during his press conference in New York on Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the decision by the de facto military authorities to try the president-elect for high treason was "extremely troubling."
He noted that the United Nations Special Representative for West Africa, Mr. Leonardo Santos Chimao, continues to work very closely on the political side with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union.
"It is very important that the United Nations, regional organizations and sub-regional organizations represent a united front, which we hope will lead to a reversal of the status quo," he added.
Asked about ECOWAS' decision to activate a standby force in case diplomacy fails, Mr. Dujarric said that the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, "always supports diplomacy". He added that part of his approach to many peace and security issues is to ensure that subregional and regional organizations "are at the forefront and it is up to them to make the decisions they want to make".
On the humanitarian side, the UN team continues to provide aid despite the challenges it faces, including the ongoing rainy season.
The spokesman noted that 22,000 people received cash and food assistance last week in the central Maradi district of the country.
“We are working with our humanitarian partners and the de facto authorities to identify and prepare a site to accommodate some 13,000 internally displaced people in Ouro Guilladjo, Tillabery region,” said Mr. Dujarric.
He pointed out that these people were displaced from several villages in that region in mid-July, before the current political crisis.