2024 - A Wakeup Call for the Sahel: US Capitol, Feb. 2, 2024

 

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NEWSLETTER    "2024 - A Wakeup Call for the Sahel" panel discussion

United States Capitol - February 2, 2024 L-R: Dr. Sasha Toperich, Executive Vice President, TLN Maria Nicoletta Gaida, President, Ara Pacis Initiative for Peace & Pax Humana Foundation (Italy) Amb. Ret. Charles Ray, Trustee, FPRI Prof. Dr. Saleem Ali, University of Delaware General Ret. Didier Castres, Former Deputy Chief for Operations, French Army, President of GEOS ADIT Group

Welcome remarks by Carol Rollie Flynn, FPRI President

Maria Nicoletta Gaida: The Sahel serves as a vital bridge between civilizations and seas, deserving attention and necessitating dialogue. Western values have been undermined by inconsistency, neglect, and double standards, while unkept promises have generated disenchantment and distrust. The crises in the Sahel transcend existing boundaries, requiring solutions based on geographical and human realities rather than established colonial borders. A new approach to the Sahel must be dignity-centered and involve all stakeholders, including rebels, armed groups, civil society, traditional, and religious leaders. Relying solely on strongmen and military solutions to address complex societal problems has proven ineffective. Coordination between top-down and bottom-up diplomacy is essential, and a global plan must prioritize social services, administrative autonomy, and inclusion to counter terrorism and instability.

General Didier Castres: The Sahel is currently undergoing major upheavals, whether political, climatic, security-related, or demographic. Without energetic action, it will become a grey zone where warlords, armed groups, jihadists, and traffickers vie for space and resources. Doing nothing is not an option, but the solutions brought to the Sahelian crises have failed. Between the transplantation of Western models, exclusively security-focused approaches, incapacity to grasp the complexity and entirety of the crises, media obsession, and inconsistent management of different timelines, the gap widens between the expectations of the populations and the proposed solutions. It is imperative for us to fundamentally change our crisis resolution approach.

Amb. Ret. Charles Ray: The situation in the Sahel is a wakeup call for the people of the region, for they must assume the principal responsibility. But it is also a wakeup call for the rest of the world. By 2050, 25 percent of the world’s population will be in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a large percentage of them will be in the Sahel. They can either be a positive force in the global community, or they can be our worst nightmare. The decision is up to us—all of us.

Prof. Dr. Saleem Ali: The Sahel is a region of immense natural resource wealth but also extreme poverty. This paradox has bedevilled academic researchers and policy-makers for decades but has now reached a critical juncture as conflicts across the region are exacerbated by heightened global tensions between major powers. In this context we need an urgent conflict resolution strategy for the region that considers past mistakes of colonial policies as well as the neglectful ability to bring all parties into a bigger tent of inclusion. The United Nations estimates that more than 200 tons of gold is produced annually in the Sahel region, and with impaired governance this could fuel further civil strife and terror.

Dr. Sasha Toperich: Relying solely on Western governance solutions for African crises is no longer viable. It's time to support Africans in devising their own solutions, which may differ from Western models. We cannot address these crises solely with a rational Western approach.

You can watch the entire panel at TLN's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SevMMTQBok