UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy in Mali saw positive developments in the African country despite recent deadly attacks there.
Despite repeated attacks last week committed by the enemies of peace, including the death of a UN peacekeeper, significant progress has been made in the implementation of the peace agreement, notably with regard to the political and institutional reforms, security and defense issues, and matters of socio-economic development, said Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the UN secretary-general's special representative in Mali.
He welcomed the official launch of an inclusive national dialogue by Prime Minister Boubou Cisse last month. "I would like to note that the main political and institutional reforms envisioned by the (peace) agreement are duly included in the validated terms of reference," he told the Security Council via a video teleconference from Bamako.
Discussions have begun at the local level, starting with the communes. These discussions will continue at the level of community fora, and then at the level of the regions on Oct. 21-22, before the debate at the national level at the end of October or the beginning of November, said the envoy.
He congratulated Malian politicians and civil society for this very important step forward and called on different political factions to take part in this debate in order to ensure "a massive and truly inclusive participation" in this process.
Annadif, who also heads the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, noted that, despite recurrent deadly attacks, there was a significant drop in the number of attacks against civilians as well as the number of civilians killed or wounded over the past three months.
However, the humanitarian situation in the center of the country continues to deteriorate, he said. The cycle of violence has driven new waves of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The current number of IDPs is 171,000, the highest since 2015.
Annadif said it is important to increase the presence of security and defense forces in the region.
The UN peacekeeping mission was established in April 2013 to help stabilize the situation in Mali, which is plagued by a civil war and the rise of Islamist militants.
