Presentation Consolidated report of country studies on Security challenges and issues in the Sahelo-Saharan Region

The development of the ten country studies was the first step and the intellectual basis of the multi-year project "Dialogues about Security in the Sahelo-Saharan region: Rethinking Sub-Regional Security". Convinced that the challenges and security challenges in the Sahelo-Saharan space have a national as well as a sub-regional dimension, approaches / solutions to these challenges have been based both on a national analysis and on a supranational analysis. In order to ensure a national anchoring and the feasibility of sub-regional policies and approaches, national analyzes are understood as a basic and essential starting point. Thus, during a workshop bringing together the authors of the country studies, organized in Tunis from May 30 to June 1, 2016, the challenges and threats common to the various states of the Sahelo-Saharan region were identified. Subsequently, a synthesis report was presented at an expert workshop in Dakar on November 7th, 2016 to validate the main conclusions and recommendations. It was followed on November 8th, 2016 by a round table presenting security challenges and threats. The aim of these activities was to obtain a cross-examination on the security challenges and issues of the Sahelo-Saharan region.

Hence the production of a consolidated report incorporating the results of the studies and the various workshops and the round table in a consolidated document. Through this, country studies will ultimately be used to develop policy and strategic recommendations for policy-makers in the countries concerned, the sub-region and international organizations (ECOWAS, AU, EU, G5, AMU, among others) to deal with possible threats.

The objective of the activity was to create a framework for exchange of state actors, experts, researchers, civil society, sub-regional and international organizations with a view to defining strategic, concrete and achievable recommendations for Political decision-makers in the countries of the Sahelo-Saharan region.

The conference activity and debates for a coordinated and effective response to security challenges and threats was the opportunity:

• to discuss and refocus the recommendations of the consolidated country studies report with a view to their effective implementation;
• to point out the importance for States and ECOWAS to undertake actions that would involve more women, young people and religious;
• to establish the need to identify avenues of reflection on the framework for interaction between the different actors in the implementation of the recommendations of the consolidated report;
• highlight the need for good cooperation between ECOWAS, AMU and RECs;
• emphasize the need to protect human rights;
• to reconsider the necessary collaboration between the State, CSOs, citizens, religious, etc.

The participation of diplomatic representations, state actors, research institutes, civil society and academic organizations demonstrates the value of the presentation of the consolidated report by the PSCC. The discussions made it possible to formulate concrete, realistic and inclusive recommendations, the implementation of which requires the collaboration of the various stakeholders for a lasting peace and security in the Sahelo-Saharan zone (states, populations, armed forces, religious, etc.).