# Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/2274 of 7 December 2015 appointing the European Union Special Representative for the Sahel, Article 3: Mandate

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. In order to achieve the Union's policy objectives in relation to the Sahel, the mandate of the EUSR shall be to:
(a) actively contribute to the implementation of the Strategy and its RAP and to coordinate and further develop the Union's comprehensive approach to the regional crisis, with a view to enhancing the overall coherence and effectiveness of Union activities in the Sahel;
(b) engage with all relevant stakeholders of the region, governments, regional organisations, in particular G5 Sahel, international organisations, civil society and diasporas, including with the countries of the Maghreb and Lake Chad Basin, with a view to furthering the Union's objectives and contribute to a better understanding of the role of the Union in the Sahel;
(c) represent and promote the interests of the Union in relevant regional and international fora, including participation in the Comité de Suivi of the Mali Peace Agreement, and ensure visibility for Union support to crisis management and conflict prevention, including EUTM Mali, EUCAP Sahel Mali and EUCAP Sahel Niger;
(d) maintain close cooperation with the United Nations (UN), in particular the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, and the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for the Sahel, the African Union (AU), in particular the AU High Representative for Mali and the Sahel, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the G5 Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin Commission and other leading national, regional and international stakeholders including other Special Envoys for the Sahel, as well as with the relevant bodies in the Maghreb area;
(e) closely follow the regional and trans-boundary dimensions of the challenges in the Sahel, including terrorism, organised crime, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and smuggling, drug trafficking, refugee and migration flows and related financial flows; in close cooperation with the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, contribute to the further implementation of the EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy;
(f) closely follow the humanitarian, political, security and development consequences of large scale refugee and migration flows and related illicit financial flows across the region; upon request, engage in dialogues on migration with relevant stakeholders and contribute more generally to Union policy on migration and refugees with respect to the region, in line with the Union's political priorities, in order to increase cooperation including on return and readmission; work with countries of the Sahel to follow up action agreed at the Valletta Summit in November 2015;
(g) maintain regular high level political contacts with the countries in the region affected by terrorism and international crime in order to ensure a coherent and comprehensive approach and to ensure the Union's key role in the international efforts to fight terrorism and international crime. This includes the Union's active support to regional capacity-building in the security sector, and ensuring that the root causes of terrorism and international crime in the Sahel are adequately addressed;
(h) closely follow the political, security and development consequences of humanitarian crises in the region;
(i) with regard to Mali, contribute to the stabilisation of the country, in particular a full return to constitutional normalcy and governance throughout the territory and a credible national inclusive dialogue in the overall framework of the Mali peace Agreement. This also includes promoting institution building, security sector reform and long-term peace building and reconciliation and fighting against corruption and impunity in Mali;
(j) contribute to the implementation of the Union's human rights policy in the region in cooperation with the EUSR for Human Rights, including the EU Guidelines on human rights, in particular the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, as well as on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them, and the Union's policy on Women, Peace and Security, and promote inclusiveness and gender equality in the state building process, in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, including Resolution 2242 (2015). The contribution will include monitoring and reporting on developments, as well as formulating recommendations in this regard and maintain regular contacts with the relevant authorities in Mali and in the region, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the human rights defenders and observers in the region.
(k) follow up and report on compliance with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council (UNSCRs), in particular UNSCRs 2056 (2012), 2071 (2012), 2085 (2012), 2100 (2013) and 2227 (2015).
2. For the purpose of the fulfilment of the mandate, the EUSR shall, inter alia:
(a) advise and report on the formulation of Union positions in regional and international fora, as appropriate, in order to proactively promote and strengthen the Union's comprehensive approach towards the crisis in the Sahel;
(b) maintain an overview of all activities of the Union and cooperate closely with relevant Union delegations.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2015/2274/article/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2015-2274/article-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.