The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, arrived in Mali for a two-day working visit to meet with the country's authorities and UN personnel to discuss "the safe and responsible withdrawal" of MINUSMA.
During the first part of his visit, he came to the city of Mopti in central Mali, accompanied by the head of MINUSMA, El-Ghassim Wane. In Mopti, the official met with the city's governor, Colonel Major Abass Dembele, with whom he had "constructive conversations" on the UN mission's support to security in the region and its planned pullout.
“We discussed the importance of preserving the gains from MINUSMA's presence as much as possible and, naturally, the significance of ensuring all conditions are met for MINUSMA's withdrawal to take place under the best possible circumstances," said Lacroix.
Lacroix added that he also met with the troops and other MINUSMA personnel and thanked them for their "service and dedication." Moreover, the official held a meeting with the UN partners in the country on the transfer of relevant responsibilities.
He laid a wreath at the MINUSMA Memorial of victims to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of peace in the region.
"I am grateful for the tens of thousands of peacekeepers who have served for peace [...], protecting people, empowering women and building trust among many other tasks. Today, I also paid tribute to the uniformed and civilian colleagues who lost their lives in that endeavor," he stated.
On June 30, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to end its peacekeeping mission in Mali and to fully withdraw the troops by the end of 2023.
The decision followed a request from the Malian government to withdraw the mission. The government said that MINUSMA's 10-year presence in the country had failed to respond adequately to the security situation and was contributing to escalating tensions.