A clear message from New York
Benin’s voice resonated at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Foreign Minister Corinne Amori Brunet delivered the country’s national statement on the final day of the general debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. She spoke alongside the permanent mission led by Ambassador Marc Hermanne Araba, Benin’s permanent representative to the intergovernmental body.
The address came in a closely watched speaking order, with Benin’s top diplomat taking the podium right after the delegations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
From UN principles to concrete action on the ground
The speech carries major diplomatic weight as Benin wraps up its presidency of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC). Far from purely theoretical declarations of intent, the address delivered at the UN rests on a comprehensive security doctrine that Cotonou is actively deploying at both national and regional levels.
Operation Mirador: a robust operational response
Faced with pressure from armed terrorist groups along the northern border zone, Benin has launched Operation Mirador. This preventive and defensive military arrangement aims to lock down the Pendjari and W national parks and secure rural communities. The Beninese army combines this with a reinforced territorial network through the mass recruitment and training of new security personnel to fill the operational gaps exploited by violent groups.
The Accra Initiative: regional cooperative networking
On the sub-regional diplomatic and military front, Benin remains one of the driving pillars of the Accra Initiative (alongside Ghana, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and the Sahel countries). This mechanism puts into practice on the ground the orientations defended at the UN podium:
- Sharing tactical information: Regular, direct exchanges between intelligence services to track cross-border movements.
- Joint operations: Conducting coordinated actions on both sides of borders to prevent armed groups from retreating from one territory to another.
Social prevention and development of border areas
For Cotonou, the security response cannot be exclusively military. Through the Beninese Agency for Integrated Management of Border Areas (ABeGIEF), the Beninese state invests directly in basic infrastructure in the north of the country (schools, water points, health centers, rural tracks). The goal is to stem the feeling of abandonment, strengthen the resilience of marginalized communities and cut extremist recruitment networks at the root.
Community security and early warning
The Beninese government is banking on strengthening the army-nation bond. Thanks to the deployment of citizen alert mechanisms and dedicated hotlines, local populations are involved in the preventive intelligence chain. This inclusive approach aims to build a climate of mutual trust essential to counter the infiltration of clandestine networks.
A doctrine summed up in three pillars
In a tense sub-regional context, the advocacy carried to New York by the Beninese delegation sums up a clear doctrine: combining operational firmness at the borders, socio-economic investment in populations and pragmatic multilateral cooperation with all neighboring partners.
