Can West Africa and the Sahel achieve lasting stability when security, political, humanitarian, and institutional challenges keep mounting? That is the critical question behind a new Memorandum of Understanding signed in Abidjan-Cocody on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, between the Entente Council and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). The agreement aims to strengthen cooperation on peace, stability, political dialogue, and regional cooperation across West Africa and the Sahel.

By joining forces, both institutions seek to better coordinate their efforts in a region where persistent threats test the resilience of states and regional bodies. The partnership also aims to preserve and reinforce consultation spaces between governments and regional organizations.

Three priorities driving the partnership

The cooperation rests on three main pillars. The first focuses on preventive diplomacy, mediation, and political dialogue, including the possibility of strategic consultations, good offices initiatives, and facilitation actions.

The second pillar addresses peace and resilience in border areas. Both institutions plan to work on conflict prevention, strengthening social cohesion, and boosting the participation of young people and women in peace initiatives.

The third axis is dedicated to institutional strengthening and strategic analysis through information sharing, joint studies, advisory assistance, and capacity development for the Entente Council.

A platform for dialogue and diplomatic facilitation

The Memorandum also enshrines the Entente Council’s role as a platform for dialogue, consultation, and diplomatic facilitation. The organization could thus help bring states and different regional configurations closer together when circumstances require it.

To ensure the agreement’s implementation, both institutions will draw up annual joint work plans, designate focal points, and hold regular follow-up consultations. Joint assessment, dialogue, or diplomatic facilitation missions may also be conducted.

The Memorandum of Understanding is concluded for an initial period of three years.

Why the stakes are high

Present at the signing ceremony, Leonardo Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, 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 declared.

Leonardo Simão also highlighted the experience of the Entente Council, 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 constitutes a foundation on which new peace initiatives in the region can be built.

For Idi Ali, Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of the interim of the Executive Secretary of the Entente Council, 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 the organization of both Sahelian and coastal countries.

He welcomed the signing of the 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.