New UNOWAS Top Official Stresses Importance of Trust in Peacebuilding Efforts

As the UN marks 75 years of its special political missions, Politically Speaking has been talking with the Secretary-General’s Representatives and Envoys about their current work and how they view the future of diplomacy for peace.

O n 2 May, 2023, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Leonardo Santos Simão of Mozambique as his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) and Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission. Politically Speaking sat down with him to discuss his new role and the importance of multilateral efforts in the region.

How does your previous experience prepare you for this role with UNOWAS?

While pointing out that “you never know how prepared you are until you face the real challenge in the field,” Special Representative Simão noted that the West African and Sahel regions were experiencing issues that he had faced in other situations in his career. Most notable among these issues was the lack of trust in countries experiencing conflict. “People do not trust each other. Negative emotions are involved, tensions are there,” he said. “So before you can help the countries to build a common solution, you have to lower the level of tensions, the level of negative emotions and sentiments like hatred or mistrust.”

In the current global context, how should multilateral diplomacy adapt?

Underlining that “multilateralism is always fundamental,” the Special Representative went on to highlight its importance in dynamic settings such as Africa, which is experiencing rapid demographic changes. The younger generation, he said, is now in the majority, and they are better educated and have more access to information than ever before. As a result, they have elevated expectations in relation to what their governments have to deliver. The same was true of another demographic segment, that of women, who now have increased opportunity for participation. With these changes in mind, he highlighted that “multilateral institutions are key to support countries navigate through these waters.”

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