Mediation and prevention at work: Accompanying the dialogue in Guinea

Just a few hours after arriving in Dakar, Senegal, from an AU summit in South Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas is back on a sweltering tarmac waiting to board a small UN plane headed for Conakry, the capital of Guinea. It’s 15 June 2015, and the government and opposition in Guinea are preparing for a national dialogue to discuss, among other issues, how elections will be conducted in the country later in the year. Mr Ibn Chambas, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative (SRSG) for West Africa is going to the country to observe that process.

Mr Ibn Chambas has been doing a lot of this kind of work this year, having played a key role in helping Nigeria conduct peaceful and credible polls back in March 2015. And he’s going to be doing a lot more of it in the coming months.

“It’s clear that 2015 is the year of elections in West Africa”, said Special Representative Ibn Chambas on his way to Guinea. “Since I’ve been in the job, elections have been a major preoccupation, working with various countries and partners to see how we can all work together to support these countries to conduct inclusive and credible elections.”

In Guinea, the government and the opposition are still debating how to establish a level playing field for the elections. A major point of contention was the sequencing of the elections – whether to only hold presidential elections, or coupled with local elections, or first to hold presidential elections and later on organize local elections. That issue has now been overcome thanks to the national dialogue.

Mr Ibn Chambas arrived in Conakry as the country waited for the rainy season and Ramadan to start – one day before the scheduled kick off of the national dialogue. “I’m here to support the Guinean efforts, encourage them to engage in dialogue, accompany them, and work together with other parties to ensure that we are able to have credible, inclusive and peaceful elections in Guinea,“ Mr Ibn Chambas said as his plane landed in Conakry.

SRSG Ibn Chambas prepares to fly to Conakry, Guinea. UN Photo

Representatives of the international community in Guinea meeting with the Ministers who were tasked to organize and chair the national dialogue.

Mr. Ibn Chambas preparing for his speech at the beginning of the national dialogue in Conakry on 18 June. UN Photo

Representatives of the Guinean political sphere, civil society, the National Electoral Commission and the international community during the national dialogue. UN Photo

His efforts are part of the Secretary General’s good offices, to carry out timely initiatives in preventive diplomacy and to contribute to regional responses to political crises in the 16 countries in West Africa that the United Nations Regional Office for West Africa (UNOWA) covers. The region as a whole is in transition. Many of its democracies are young, and the existing and potential divides – regional, ethnic, religious, demographic – mean that relatively minor problems can easily deteriorate.

“That means we have to anticipate and remain active all the time”, stressed Mr Ibn Chambas.

UN Office for West Africa

The United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) was established in January 2002 (S/20011128 from 26 November 2001) and is headed by Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for West Africa and the High-Level Representative for Nigeria.

UNOWA’s core functions consist of preventive diplomacy, good offices and political mediation and facilitation and assisting regional institutions and States to enhance their capacity in those fields; working with regional institutions and States to address cross-border and cross-cutting threats to peace and security in West Africa; promoting good governance and respect for the rule of law, human right and gender equity in conflict prevention and management initiatives in West Africa; providing political support and advice to the United Nations presences in West Africa and facilitating the implementation of the International Court of Justice ruling of 10 October 2002 on the land and maritime boundary dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria.

The Office works closely with regional organizations – particularly with the African Union, ECOWAS, the Mano River Union, the Commission of the Gulf of Guinea and UN entities in the region.

UNOWA covers 16 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

But Mr Ibn Chambas and other UN envoys working on conflict prevention have to take care to avoid their active diplomacy being perceived as interference. In Guinea, there is some apprehension about the UN’s and the international community’s involvement in creating conducive conditions for elections.

“Our effort has been to reassure them that far from seeking to interfere, we simply want to underline the interest that the international community has in this country and our willingness and our ability to mobilize support for them in a constructive way to ensure peaceful and credible elections,” Mr Chambas emphasized.

The key, Mr Ibn Chambas underlined, is keeping an equal distance from all sides and reaching out to all, while being constructive and positive. This has helped Guineans increasingly accept the UN’s role. Indeed, the UN was initially meant only to observe the national dialogue, but as talks started the Government facilitators and the parties requested Mr Chambas to assume an informal facilitation role.

“We hope that in Guinea also, as we have seen so far in Burkina Faso and Nigeria, that our efforts will be crowned with success.”

Mr Ibn Chambas’ last visit to Guinea ended two days ago. But the related work continues today, as he briefs the Security Council on that mission and on the work of UNOWA for the last six months. He will, of course, be bringing his analysis and information from the ground. But importantly, he will also be looking to the Council for support for his efforts in the region.