Conferencia: Situación Política y Económica en África Occidental

Said Djinnit, the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), will be in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the 4^th April and will hold a working breakfast with different organisations at Casa África's headquarters.

At 7.30p.m., in Casa África's Nelson Mandela Auditorium Mr. Djinnit will give a  conference on the Economic and Political Situation in Western Africa countries.

Said Djinnit:

Before his current post as the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative and  Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, Said Djinnit worked for the African Union, becoming Secretary-General for Political Affairs. There he led the efforts of the General Secretariat and the Commission in supporting peace processes on the continent, including the conflicts between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Comoros, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic , Ivory Coast, Liberia, Darfur, Sudan and Somalia.

His work on various initiatives have also stood out, such as the Protocol on Peace and Security of the African Union (2002), the structure of the African Standby Force, its Military Committee, the Draft Defence and Common Security Policy in Africa, the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community, the Declaration on the framework of the OAU a response to unconstitutional changes of government (2000), the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Rights of Women in Africa, and the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA).

As a diplomat he has also undertaken tasks for Algeria in different missions. He was in charge of Business at the Embassy of Algeria in Brussels and Deputy Mission Chief in Addis Ababa.

UNOWA:

On the 29th November 2001, the Secretary General and the President of the Security Council authorised the setting up of a United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) to more effectively address cross-border impacts of conflicts in West Africa and harmonise United Nations activities in the subregion

The UNOWA mandate focuses on several priorities:

• encourage initiatives to favour recovery in countries affected by the crisis
• consolidate good governance and the rule of law
• promote human rights and a gender view
• create awareness of the urgent need to achieve economic growth and equitable distribution of wealth.

UNOWA provides a regional approach in dealing with cross-border and transversal threats in 16 countries and particularly focusing on electoral insecurity, reforming the security sector, terrorism and transnational organised crime, including trafficking in illegal drugs.

Taking into account the growing regional dimension of the threats to peace and stability, UNOWA focuses its activities on a series of transversal regional issues.

Together with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other regional associates, Mr Said Djinnit, the Secretary General's Special Representative for Western Africa, promotes dialogue and political consensus, for example, by supporting the completion of the transition processes in Guinea and Niger. He has also managed preventative diplomacy actions in countries such as Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.