Sahel countries exchange lessons, increase collaboration to counter violent extremism

September 26, 2019

NIAMEY, Niger – Government representatives from five West African states recently convened to improve regional collaboration to stem the threat of violent extremism. Organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Partnerships for Peace program and the G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat, the August 21-22 workshop was attended by representatives from Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Togo.

Since the validation of the G5 Sahel Regional Guide in N’Djamena on November 22, 2018, the G5 Sahel member states have taken various measures and are at different stages of progress in developing their respective strategies and action plans to prevent radicalization and counter violent extremism. The workshop served as a follow-up to the Sahel countries’ validation of a regional CVE approach and their commitments to enhance national capacities, as well as a venue to share experiences among the five attending countries.

A leader in CVE in the Sahel, Niger has completed regional consultations aimed at gathering the views of local actors on the status of violent extremism in order to ensure that creating its national strategy is an inclusive process.  In sharing this experience and through other fruitful exchanges, workshop participants engaged in meaningful dialogue and reflections on transnational and regional approaches to violent extremism, a complex, volatile and evolving threat.

“Thank you USAID P4P for inviting us to this very important event. The knowledge acquired during these two days of fruitful discussions and exchanges will enable us to back to our national steering committee with recommendations of how to best avoid mistakes and build on the experiences of our sub-regional neighbors,” said Gani Koffi, Togo’s Director of Cabinet of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Women and member of the country’s National CVE Steering Committee.

Through efforts like this workshop, Partnerships for Peace continues to support the G5 member states’ process of developing national countering violent extremism strategies and preventing radicalization in the Sahel region.

About Partnerships for Peace and the G5 Sahel

Partnerships for Peace is a USAID project that contributes to the U.S. government’s goal of reducing vulnerability to violent extremism in West Africa. This five-year program works with regional and national stakeholders in West Africa to develop a common understanding of violent extremism in the Sahel region. The program also aims to improve the institutional capacity of organizations and governments to implement more effective and coordinated approaches to preventing violent extremism. Currently, the project covers the G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania.

The G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat is an institutional framework for coordination and monitoring of cooperation on security and development policies in the G5 member states; Burkina Faso, the Republic of Chad, the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Mauritania and the Republic of Niger.