19 February 2015 - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, today started a two-day visit to Bissau.

After a meeting with his counterpart Miguel Trovoada, Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), DSRSGs Marco Carmignani and Maria do Valle Ribeiro, SRSG Mohamed Ibn Chambas shed a light on his presence in Guinea-Bissau.

"You know, UNIOGBIS and UNOWA are two sister missions, that is, they are working on common issues. It is true that UNIOGBIS has a particular and specific mandate in Guinea-Bissau to accompany the country in all the efforts that it is making whether in the area of governance, security sector reform, fight against international criminality, economic and social development".

He then explained: "These are all areas in which UNOWA also is working. So, from time to time, it is useful that I come to exchange views and perspective, discuss with the SRSG the work that is being done here and to see in the context of intermission collaboration what are those things that we can do together, how can UNOWA support the efforts of UNIOGBIS, how can we work in synergy in order to have greater impact in this country and advance the process of building institution, consolidating the democratic process, stabilizing governance and also advancing in the area of security sector reform, fight against impunity and criminality... etc"

During his visit to Bissau, the first since his appointment in September 2014, Mohamed Ibn Chambas will meet with top Bissau-Guinean officials, including the Head of State, Jose Mario Vaz, the President of the National Assembly, Cipriano Cassama, and the Prime Minister, Domingos Simoes Pereira.

The Head of UNOWA will also have working sessions with ECOWAS and AU representatives in Bissau, and visit the premises of the Control Unit against cross-border crime.

The audio file of SRSG Chambas' statement is available at: Menu/news/multimedia/radio