United Nations and the Crises in Mali, 2012-2015: An Appraisal

The study appraises the role of the United Nations in the resolution of the crises in Mali from 2012-2015. It would be recalled that on 17th January, 2012, a coalition of rebel forces under the control of the National Movement for the Liberation of the state of Azawad (MNLA) attacked the three major cities of Timbuktu, Goa and Kidal in Northern Mali and declared them as state of Azawad where the tenets of Islam would be fully practised. Later the movement snowballed into terrorism by Islamic Jihadists who hijacked the struggle. The government forces tried to repel these attackers but without meaningful results due basically to poor equipment. Consequently, Captain Sanogo led the military to stage a coup d'etat that eventually ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure. These three events threw the Malian society into an unprecedented atmosphere of insecurity and humanitarian turmoil thereby prompting the United Nations to deploy it peace keeping Mission -MINUSMA to help in securing Mali and its citizens. Accordingly, this mission which took over from AFISMA, had succeeded in preserving the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Mali though not without challenges.