Can Benin’s UN push for security cooperation and multilateralism deliver on its promises?

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, Benin made its case heard during the final day of the general debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Foreign Minister Corinne Amori Brunet delivered the country’s national statement, standing alongside the permanent mission led by Ambassador Marc Hermanne Araba, Benin’s permanent representative to the intergovernmental body.

The timing of the address drew particular attention, as Benin’s top diplomat took the podium right after the delegations of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger had spoken.

A doctrine that translates UN principles into concrete action

The speech carries major diplomatic weight as Benin wraps up its term chairing the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC). Far from purely theoretical declarations of intent, the message delivered at the UN rests on a comprehensive security doctrine that Cotonou is actively implementing at both national and regional levels:

Operational response and state presence: Operation Mirador

Facing 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 national parks (Pendjari and W) and secure rural communities. The Beninese army pairs it with a reinforced territorial network through massive recruitment and training of new security personnel to fill the operational gaps exploited by violent groups.

Regional cooperative network: The Accra Initiative

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:

• Tactical information sharing: Periodic and 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 network recruitment at its root.

Community security and early warning

The Beninese government is focusing 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.

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.

By Claire Mvondo — Security and State Policy Expert