leaders of a group of five west african
sahel nations are meeting in chat
to discuss the security situation in the
region french president emmanuel macron
and german foreign minister heiko maas
will also participate
via video link now the so-called g5
countries of the sahel include
chad as well as mauritania mali niger
and burkina faso germany and the eu have
invested billions in development and
military aid
but much of the region remains unstable
many countries
are still vulnerable to terrorist
attacks and there are widespread
allegations of negligence against
governments in the region
that led to a sense of frustration at
the ongoing mission
due to its high costs and low returns
this is not just a school it's an
international investment
to help burkina faso and its neighboring
countries
become safe and self-sustaining with a
well-educated population
school is important for work
but many schools in the region have been
overwhelmed by
waves of internally displaced refugees
violence has driven more than 2 million
people from their homes
and the humanitarian response has been
overstretched
the eu as well as france and germany
have also poured large sums into
military training
but with often disappointing results
in mali resources have gone into
building up the capital bamako
leaving outlying areas at risk
the problem with terrorism is when the
state gives
it becomes a long-term security problem
the security a long-term the stakes of
getting it right are high for people
here
but not just for them
peace in the sahel is vital for the
whole world
if the protective wall of the sahel
breaks it will come to you in europe
this week's summit is meant to make sure
that wall
doesn't break
from honduras i am now joined by niagara
bakayoko
african security sector network chair in
paris france
hello and welcome to the program another
year another sahel conference but
has there been any progress in the
region since last year's summit
it all depends on which perspective we
consider the situation
in fact uh there has been a lot
of victories which have been claimed by
the
coalition uh made of france balkan
operation and g5 style forces
uh so a lot of a victory at the
tactical level but at the strategical
level
we can see that in fact the situation
has been worsening
in particular as regards the situation
of
uh the civilian population themselves
exactly because the stats prove that
things
are getting worse in just over a year
from about 500
000 displaced there's about 2 million
displaced now so
clearly there's more room for
improvements now do g5 countries and
france
have the same motivations in addressing
the problem
i don't know if they have the same
motivation it's normal for an
extraordinary
partner to have its own interests and
for a local partner to have their own
agenda
what is clear is that the reading
of the situation is not necessarily the
same
on both sides for instance france is
eager to continue
fighting terrorism and to neutralize
as many as uh jiadi combatants
as possible on the side of salient
countries there are differences and it
is
in particular interesting to focus on
the position from malian
authorities which have been asking to
open dialogue and discussion with some
uh rob giadi leaders
such as the jesus the
leaders and also there have been a
change in the position of burkina faso
which is
also eager to enter in a dialogue with
some
gender groups so that seems to be
exactly the problem niagara there are so
many players on the ground there's the
us the un
g5 can there be a concerted effort a
unified effort to bring peace to the
region
there is already a concentrated and
more is in fact
after the post summit it has been
decided to
put at its feet a new coalition which is
a coalition
international for the sale and in fact a
balkan
effort that cuba special forces
operation efforts
and g5 safe force efforts are all
meant to be coordinated in the framework
of this
operation but we can see that the
problem
is that the situation is getting more
and more complex
first because it is expanding beyond
the asylum countries to the coastal
countries but also
because we can see there are a lot
of groups which are
responsible for violence in the region
and in fact it gives that the coalition
is not
able to address all those stakeholders
on the ground
okay so briefly before you go 30 seconds
you mentioned how complex the whole
situation is becoming is there
a possible homegrown solution that can
better deal
with the sahel crisis
i think it is absolutely necessary to
have
a local approach to the conflict to
be uh backed and supported by the
international
partners it can definitely in my view
not be the contrary
local solutions decided by sahelian
countries themselves must be at the
center
of the solution in my view okay
african security sector network chair in
paris france
thank you for your time