Lake Chad Basin: Statement During UN Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on Peacebuilding Challenges

Thank you, Chair. I recognise and welcome the presence of Deputy Secretary-General H.E. Ms. Amina Mohammed. Thank you for your insights and recommendations regarding a topic that touches close to the shores along which you grew up.

I also thank the briefers for further underscoring that the Lake Chad Basin, despite its many challenges, is an important litmus test as to why inclusive, home-grown peacebuilding strategies and comprehensive regional mechanisms are fundamental for local ownership and effective implementation.

Kenya commends the African Union and the Lake Chad Basin Commission for the joint initiative in establishing the Regional Strategy for the Stabilisation, Recovery and Resilience (RSS) of the Lake Chad Basin region. The nine pillars of the RSS and the launch of the Territorial Action Plans (TAPs) speak not only to the urgency of broadly and contextually addressing violent extremism and terrorism perpetrated by Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, ISIL and its local umbrella organisation, the Islamic State West Africa Province, but also to the necessity of building meaningful partnerships across the peace, development and humanitarian nexus, and enhanced cross-border cooperation and coordination.

This is a new way of working that needs recognition and support from the international community. We commend the work of the Governors in driving the Implementation Action Plan at the grassroots level and across the borders of the region. Based on the briefings this morning, we also urge strengthened partnerships with youth and women's networks and civil society, to ensure that the whole of society is invested in and acting on the various dimensions of peacebuilding, including prevention, governance, development, environmental sustainability and economic empowerment.

I will highlight two areas in which the PBC can support the optimisation of these Regional and Territorial Action Plans.

First, mobilisation of adequate and predictable funding is a big part of the solution. As stated in the outcomes of the October 2021 3rd Governors' Forum, there is need for upscaling resources to reach the US$1.8 billion needed to implement the TAPs in the eight affected territories. Enhanced investments in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and the Peacebuilding Fund will also consolidate the peacebuilding gains of the RSS. We urge that particular attention be paid to the establishment of resilient governance institutions, and to projects touching on DDR+, including rehabilitation, reintegration, and economic empowerment of ex-combatants.

Second, on climate change: one of the nine pillars of the RSS is environmental sustainability. The challenges brought by extreme weather patterns, including underdevelopment and food insecurity, should hasten our drive to support the implementation of the SDGs in the Sahel, for the people of the Sahel. The drying up of ninety percent of the Lake Chad Basin's surface water area, desertification, floods and sandstorms have all contributed to internal displacement, refugees, greater instability, and communal conflicts, not to mention putting the lives and livelihoods of locals, including those practicing transhumance, agriculture and fishing, in jeopardy. Multilateral and multi-agency action, and partnerships with development partners including UNDP, Regional Economic Communities and regional development banks, will allow for a more balanced focus on both climate mitigation and adaptation projects, and local initiatives that build community resilience and address the social, political and economic causes of conflict in the Lake Chad Basin.