Dialogues about Security Challenges in the sahelo-saharan Region
What is the idea behind this project?
Drawing on the lessons learned from the recurrence of crises and the persistence of conflicts in the sub-region due to the inability of states to establish lasting stability and security, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has initiated a project entitled "Security Dialogues in the Sahel-Sahara region : Rethinking the Security in the sub-region" with a view to promoting national and sub- regional dialogue on cross-border issues and challenges as well as the interdependence between North Africa and West Africa.
Most of the countries in the Sahel-Sahara region are facing political, economic, social and environmental difficulties. This is due to the material weakness of the State and failing governance, the difficulty of controlling the national territory, the porosity of the borders and the increasing presence of gray areas. In addition, their economies are fragile, despite substantial natural resources, since they are subject to low levels of industrialization due to a combination of an almost total lack of foreign direct investment and difficult weather conditions.
Beyond the national peculiarities, the countries of the region are all preoccupied by the same challenges and threats. Regional actors must adopt new strategies in the North as well as in the South of the Sahara. Threats are cross-border and non-state actors are multiplying and benefiting from the fragility of border areas. The Sahel-Sahara region is on the verge of becoming a transit point for hybrid security threats. In Libya and Mali, for example, territories are occupied by extremist groups that set up and form recruitment unit. Similarly, the strengthening of cultural identities on the domestic front threatens to undermine feelings of national belonging, potentially culminating in internal conflicts.
The human security threats and challenges are interdependent and require a common approach through national, regional and international mechanisms to promote stabilization and development in the Sahel-Sahara region around the state.
The project aims to foster regional dialogue while bringing together countries from the Maghreb and the Sahel region mainly Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia.
What is the project approach?
The multi-annual project runs from 2015 to 2019 and is organized cyclically. The first cycle of the project which is currently in the closing phase consist of:
- Drafting country studies in order to gain comparative perspectives on the different countries and identify the major threats and challenges they have in common;
- Validating each study through national validation workshops;
- Organizing expert workshops, attended by the authors of the studies;
- The holding of a sub-regional conference to present the results of the workshops of experts and country studies in a single synthesis report.
The second cycle will consider workshops, conferences and publications to disseminate policy recommendations and introduce them into the policy processes of the countries of the sub-region and their political partners (EU, AU, G5, ECOWAS, UMA).
Related Events and Publications
Events
Meeting with Mauritanian Think Tanks
On 15 November 2018, the FES PSCC hosted a get together among various Mauritanian think tanks in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott. Amongst other... More
2nd Edition of the Sahel-Sahara Dialogue
On 15 – 16 October 2018, the FES PSCC therefore conducted the 2nd edition of the Sahel-Sahara Dialogue at Gorée Island close to Dakar on the theme:... More
1st Sahel-Sahara Dialogue: How to engage and with whom towards collective security in the Sahelo-Saharan region and in West Africa?
The increasingly complex political and humanitarian situation in the Sahel region is one of the major concerns for peace and security. The... More
Publications & Studies
Civil-military cooperation to address persistent issues of violent extremism, climate change and GBV
From 18th to 19th May 2022,... More
Prospects for sustainable peace in the Sahel : what inclusive responses to security instability in the Sahel-Sahara and in West Africa?
The Peace and Security... More
From a focus on security to diplomatic dialogue: should a negotiated stability be considered in the Sahel?
For more than a decade, the... More
Overcoming APSA’s challenges through new approaches to collective security
For two decades already, the... More
Gambia elections: Adama Barrow’s performance on the ballot
The transition program of the... More
Womens’ perspectives on reparations and national reconciliation, The Gambia
After 22 years of autocratic... More
Strategic Options for Managing Violent Extremism in Southern Africa: The Case of Mozambique
This report is based on three... More
PSCC Policy Paper - Institutional Impunity in West Africa and the Sahel - Causes, Characteristics & Limitations
When we consider the problem... More
Ethnicity, Ethnic Crisis And National Security In Nigeria Implications And Management Strategies
Like in many developing... More
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Social asymmetries
