Mister President,
I would like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa and Ms. Daniele Nlate for their statements.
Switzerland reiterates its full support for the work of the Special Representative in the region. The commitment to regional preventive diplomacy to build lasting peace has remained a priority for Swit-zerland throughout our mandate on the Security Council. We welcome the renewal of UNOCA's man-date and the adoption of the Presidential Statement, to which Switzerland is fully committed. This is a clear message of the Council's unity, both for the region and for the work of the Special Representa-tive, as well as its readiness to support the efforts of the African Union and ECCAS.
Allow me to highlight three points:
Firstly, Switzerland will remain committed to inclusive political processes aimed at achieving lasting peace in Central Africa. A strong and solid civil society, which expresses itself and participates in politi-cal dialogues, is the backbone of such processes. In this context, the constitutional referendum held on November 16 in Gabon and the legislative and local elections in Chad, scheduled for the end of this month, are an important opportunity to ensure inclusive processes, which are crucial for any peaceful society. In this respect, we commend UNOCA's preventive diplomacy efforts and encourage the Special Representative to continue his engagement with women civil society leaders to strengthen the meaningful participation of women in all political processes.
Secondly, the security and humanitarian situation in parts of the region remains alarming. As we have heard today, the intensification of armed conflict, inter-community violence and forced displacement have led to a worsening humanitarian crisis in Chad, CAR and eastern DRC. Protracted violence by Boko Haram and armed groups in northwest Cameroon and the Lake Chad Basin continues to pose a serious threat to regional security. As is often the case, women and children are paying the heaviest price. Switzerland calls on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law in all cir-cumstances, and in particular to allow and facilitate the full, rapid, safe and unimpeded passage of hu-manitarian aid to all civilians in need. This also implies respect for and protection of humanitarian per-sonnel, as emphasized in Resolution 2730. It's high time!
Thirdly, the sub-region remains vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This is illustrated by the recent floods in Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as severe food insecurity in Chad. As co-chair of the Informal Expert Group on Climate, Peace and Security, Switzerland has been working for two years to mitigate the security risks associated with climate change. In this context, under the leadership of Swit-zerland and Mozambique, members of this informal group of experts visited the Lake Chad Basin re-gion via Nigeria this month, together with UNOCA and UNOWAS climate advisors. We were thus able to see for ourselves the impact of climate change on insecurity in certain parts of this region, and the 3 urgent need for this Council to take action. We will continue to advocate for the mitigation of emerging climate change risks and the strengthening of adaptive responses.
Mister President,
At our annual exchange with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union during the Swiss presidency, our two councils stressed the need to pursue political processes to tackle the root causes of conflict and instability in Central Africa. Switzerland will continue to intensify its diplomatic efforts to strengthen dialogue between all actors with the aim of overcoming the obstacles to lasting peace and stability in the region. We call on this Council and the international community to unanimously support UNOCA and the Special Representative in the implementation of his mandate.
Thank you very much.