10th Contact Group of the Coalition for the Sahel

23 December 2023

 

At the invitation of the High Representative of the Coalition for the Sahel, Mr. Hamadi Meimou, 39 partners including 16 countries and organisations from the Sahel and Africa participated in the 10th Contact Group of senior officials around the issue “Sahel: how to work together in a changing environment? “.

 

The round table, chaired by Dr. Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), was marked by the presence and introductory remarks of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Mauritanian Minister of Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development, and current President of the G5 Sahel Council of Ministers, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, as well as the Special Representative of the European Union (EU) for the Sahel.

Moderated by the Permanent Representative of the African Union (AU) to the EU and the Deputy Director for Africa of the EU External Action Service, the round table focused on the questions “How to relaunch political dialogue and regional cooperation within and around the Sahel? » and “What are the options for an effective regional approach to security, prevention and stabilisation?” “.

The discussions, both lucid and constructive, were particularly enhanced by the vision of African partners.

 

The participants agreed on the importance of maintaining their collective engagement in the Sahel for the benefit of the populations, despite the worrying impact of political and security developments on regional cohesion.

 

To do this, the participants insisted on the importance of investing in political dialogue and to take into account the medium and long term.