February 23, 2018 — At today’s High Level Conference on the Sahel, 414 million euros was pledged by the international community, 176 million from the EU. Yet much of the funding is to fund counter-terrorism efforts.
Responding to today’s proposals, Imogen Sudbery, Head of the International Rescue Committee’s Brussels office said:
“The Alliance for the Sahel, a joint initiative of the EU, France and Germany, is a real opportunity for the EU to engage with the Sahel region in fostering economic development and stability. For the Alliance to truly have long-term, positive outcomes, it must be based on equality and fair reciprocity between the regions; security concerns are hugely important, but an overly narrow focus on security without accompanying measures on accountability and good governance will likely be counterproductive.
Empowering security forces without at least equal focus on issues such as gender equality – human and rights could have disastrous outcomes. In particular, any fortification of borders could impact the rights of migrants to travel and work within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region.
In the long-term the human rights and economic impacts will only exacerbate future security challenges. Equally prioritising genuine regional development, would help to meet the real, long term objectives that both the Sahel region and the EU are aiming for.
The EU has a real opportunity to work with the region and improve living conditions and development outcomes across the Sahel. A policy embedded in the protection and promotion of human rights, gender equality and economic development programmes is key to achieving these aims.”