ALGERIAN'S FOREIGN POLICY 

Mali: Boukadoum calls for perseverance to make progress in peace process

ADDIS ABABA- Minister of Foreign Affairs Sabri Boukadoum called Monday the Malian players to show "perseverance" in order to make progress in the transition process and obtain tangible results in the enforcement of Decembers' roadmap on, among others, the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, stemming from Algiers process.

In his speech in the meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) devoted to the situation in Mali, Boukadoum underlined that "the celebration in this month of the 6th anniversary of the Malian Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, stemming from Algiers process, offers a new opportunity to assess the progress made until now to take up the multiple challenges facing this country (Mali)."

Since the last meeting of AU on this issue in October 2020, "concrete measures have been taken to complete the transition process and speed up the peace and reconciliation programme," said Boukadoum, hailing the Malians for "the encouraging progress that has been achieved to ensure the full functioning of the transition bodies, including the National Council of transition and the ongoing preparations to set up the elections' management structures."

"The consultations are still underway to form a new government, we urge all the Malian players to preserve the achievements obtained so far and to build the necessary consensus on the necessary essential reforms to ensure the success of the elections that will be held next year," said the minister.

Also is important, for the minister, "the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which has gained a new momentum, must be further accelerated."

In this respect, he underlined the meeting held by the Agreement Follow-up Committee in Kidal, in the north of Mali, on 11 February. This meeting that he led in his capacity as president of the international mediation was historic because, he said, it was the first of its kind to be held outside Bamako since the signing of the Peace Agreement in 2015.

He welcomed the raising, for the first time in nine years, the national flag of Mali in the region of Kidal, in the presence of several Malian ministers.

Building on this tangible success, another meeting was held on 29 March 2021 in the region of Kayes, in the west of Mali, in order to improve the appropriation of the Agreement by all the Malians, said the minister.

On this occasion, he expressed the hope that this "positive atmosphere will encourage the Malian parties to implement the roadmap agreed upon in December 2020 as soon as possible. It comprises: the speeding up of the redeployment of the reconstituted army units in the north, the activation of the development area of the northern region."

In this respect, he considered that the peace and reconciliation process in Mali (supported by the international community) is "a process made by the Malians for the Malians." "While we all hope to see tangible and positive results as soon as possible, we should bear in mind that such a process is long, complex and difficult and that it requires patience and perseverance."