[1]Statement [2] by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel, Mr Romano Prodi, on the Presidential Elections in Mali.
The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel, Mr. Romano Prodi, congratulates [3] the citizens of Mali and President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on the completion of a successful election process. Mr. Prodi also pays tribute to second place candidate in the Presidential election, Mr. Soumaïla Cissé, for playing his important part in the election process.
The conclusion of the Presidential elections is a milestone in restoring peace and democracy in Mali. The successful election process will further contribute to consolidating the democratic process [4], thus enabling Mali to build a better tomorrow.
The collective focus must now move to embedding democratic institutions, fostering national reconciliation and spearheading development through economic growth and job creation [5].
Special Envoy Prodi also reiterates the regional nature of the challenges and the opportunities, cautioning that the entire fragile Sahel region needs to be supported so as to build sustainable peace. To this end the UN system is working on the implementation of a UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel [6], which was presented to the UN Security Council in June.