Regional meeting: "From military to political and civil surge: What are the African positions for sustainable peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel?"

This meeting is part of the alternative activities of the Abuja Dialogue included in the "Security for All" project co-funded by the European Union. In a context marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was held in a semi-presentational format with participants on site and others via ZOOM. It gathered experts, academia, CSOs and ECOWAS representatives.

Exchanges centred on the call for responsibility from West African and Sahelian institutions, the future of the G5 Sahel after the withdrawal of the Barkhane force and the proposals of civil society to deal with the crisis in the region.

In the form of panels, the participants developed several recommendations aimed at achieving lasting peace and security in the region. The in-depth discussions made it possible to establish a diagnosis of the current security situation in West Africa and the Sahel and to evaluate the actions/strategies of the various actors at local, national, sub-regional, regional, and international levels to respond to the insecurity in the region. Then, participants identified ways in which the different actors in the regional could collaborate to implement joint actions for peace and security in the region before making recommendations to policy makers to better reorient their actions / strategies to achieve sustainable peace and security in West Africa and the Sahel.

A report in the form of a policy brief on the subject is currently being produced and will include all the recommendations from this regional meeting.