In his capacity as Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC), the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Leonardo Santos Simão, concluded yesterday a three-day visit to Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The visit is part of the continuing commitment of the Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission to support the tireless efforts of both delegations to complete the border demarcation process, in accordance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling of October 10, 2002.

Following his visit to Abuja, Nigeria, on February 8, during which he held talks with Nigerian authorities, the Chairman of the CNMC met with the Cameroonian authorities in Yaoundé. He was received in audience by the Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Joseph Dion Ngute, and by H.E. Mr. Felix Mbayu, Minister Delegate in charge of the Commonwealth at the Ministry of External Relations. He also had a working meeting with Cameroon's delegation to the CNMC, led by its Head, Minister Michel Zoah. The Chairman of the CNMC also met with the UN country team.

Discussions addressed the various aspects related to the completion of the demarcation process, in particular the need to reach an agreement on the delimitation of the three border zones on which differences persist.

In this respect, Mr. Simão welcomed the decision of the two neighboring countries to resolve their disagreements over the areas mentioned within the Mixed Commission and to no longer resort to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as they had announced at the 34th session of the Mixed Commission.

The Chairman of the CNMC reaffirmed the United Nations' unwavering support to the two countries. He encouraged the UN country team to continue its support and complete, as soon as possible, the update of the needs assessment of the populations affected by the demarcation, and to mobilize the necessary resources to implement projects aimed at meeting the challenges identified with a view to strengthening the confidence and support of the populations on the border demarcation.

Established in November 2002 by the late UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the request of Presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, the CNMC's mandate is to facilitate implementation of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling of October 10 2002, on the border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria. To date, the CMCN has demarcated 2065 kilometers of an estimated 2100 kilometers of border.