Momentum shifts in West Africa as Entente Council and UNOWAS seal breakthrough cooperation pact
In a decisive move that signals a new chapter for regional stability, the Entente Council and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, in Abidjan-Cocody. The agreement marks a turning point in joint efforts to advance peace, political dialogue, and regional cooperation across West Africa and the Sahel.
Both institutions are set to align their strategies more closely at a time when security, political, humanitarian, and institutional challenges continue to test the region. The partnership also seeks to safeguard and expand platforms for consultation among states and regional bodies.
Three pillars drive the new momentum
The cooperation rests on three main priorities. The first focuses on preventive diplomacy, mediation, and political dialogue, including the possibility of strategic consultations, good offices initiatives, and facilitation efforts.
The second pillar addresses peace and resilience in border areas. The two institutions plan to work on conflict prevention, social cohesion, and the involvement of youth and women in peacebuilding initiatives.
The third area centers on institutional strengthening and strategic analysis through information sharing, joint studies, advisory assistance, and capacity-building for the Entente Council.
Entente Council positioned as a key diplomatic platform
The Memorandum also affirms the Entente Council’s role as a platform for dialogue, consultation, and diplomatic facilitation. When circumstances require, the organization could help bring states and different regional configurations closer together.
To ensure implementation, both institutions will develop annual joint work plans, designate focal points, and hold regular follow-up consultations. Joint missions for assessment, dialogue, or diplomatic facilitation may also be conducted.
The Memorandum of Understanding is initially set for a three-year term.
Voices at the signing ceremony
Leonardo Simão, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, attended the signing and stressed the importance of this cooperation for promoting peace and stability in the region.
“There are always threats to peace. We cannot take peace as something definitive. We must always make efforts to maintain peace where it already exists, but also to recover peace where it does not exist,” he said.
Simão also highlighted the Entente Council’s experience, created in 1959, before the Organization of African Unity and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). According to him, this experience of cooperation between states provides a foundation on which new peace initiatives in the region can be built.
Idi Ali, Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of the interim of the Executive Secretary of the Entente Council, said the agreement reflects recognition of the role the organization can play in the current security context.
“The Entente Council today constitutes a privileged framework for consolidating peace in the sub-region,” he said, noting in particular the presence within this organization of Sahelian and coastal countries.
He welcomed the signing of this Memorandum with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, estimating that it will consolidate relations between the two institutions and strengthen their contribution to peace in the sub-region.
