NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the North African region, known as Sahel, needs consistent attention to avoid a crisis like the one in Mali.
Ban said the region is facing challenges ranging from terrorism to drug trafficking.
"The Sahel's vast size and long, porous borders mean that such challenges can be addressed successfully only if the countries of the region work together," he said in a statement issued Thursday to the U.N. Security Council.
The Sahel stretches west from Mauritania to Eritrea and includes trouble spots like Mali.
Mali in early 2013 called for military support from former colonial power France to help fight al-Qaida and nomadic rebels who seized control of the North following a 2012 coup. Mali has since recovered enough to hold democratic elections though Ban said support was still needed for the 12,600-strong force working on Malian stabilization efforts.
"People there [Mali] are struggling to recover from human rights abuses and upheaval," the secretary-general said.
The U.N. mission estimates about 500,000 Malians were displaced by conflict and 1.3 million people depend on food assistance.
