Sahel (2020 – present)

“In the Sahel, civil society is on the frontline of the crisis and has a unique expertise that too few decision makers take into account. By helping to create the People’s Coalition for the Sahel, Crisis Action has elevated West African voices to new audiences globally.”

—Niagale Bagayoko, Chair, African Security Sector Network.

A decade of conflict in the Sahel region of West Africa has contributed to acute security, governance, and health crises. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in what has become of the world’s worst displacement crises. Sahelian security forces, supported by thousands of foreign troops including a 5,100-strong French ‘‘Opération Barkhane’’, have used military force to try and drive so-called jihadist armed groups from the region. The military-first strategy has failed to protect civilians and done little to address the humanitarian and governance problems underlying the crisis.

In March 2020, Crisis Action launched a campaign in the Sahel, targeted at encouraging all governments active in the region away from a primarily militaristic response to the crisis and towards a more holistic people-centered response that addresses the root causes of violence.

Working towards this, Crisis Action has:

• Brought together a diverse coalition of more than 60 African and international partners calling for a change in the military-first strategy and facilitated briefings by the coalition with policymakers from the US, UK, EU, UN, AU, and Sahelian governments, which led the policymakers to agree that a broader response was needed that did not just focus on counterterrorism. The ‘People’s Coalition for the Sahel’ was officially launched during an online event broadcast live by Crisis Action partner FIDH and viewed by thousands of people around the world, including policymakers and dozens of local and international media outlets, including Le Monde, RFI, Jeune Afrique, the BBC and VOA.
• Worked with the People’s Coalition to set out the ‘People’s Pillars,’ which defined four priorities – protection, political strategy, aid and justice – that should be part of governments’ response to the crisis. The Coalition then monitored the governments’ performance on each of the pillars, showing policymakers that local communities were determined to hold them to account.
• Worked with the Coalition to produce a landmark report, ‘The Sahel: What needs to change’, which outlined concrete steps towards a more holistic people-centered response that addressed the root causes of the violence. Launched in April 2021 in a virtual event attended by over 300 people including policymakers from the Sahel, EU, African Union, UN, US, Canada and Japan, the report’s key messages reached millions through our global media outreach (including global titles like Le Monde and France 24).
• Pushed for implementation of the report’s recommendations through a series of tailored briefings for over 40 policymakers, and organise workshops with partners from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to co-create strategies for continuing government engagement across the region. The recommendations were affirmed by key policymakers—including senior officials from the AU, France, United Kingdom, and Norway.

After years focusing primarily on counter-terror, Sahelian governments and their international partners have committed to a “civilian and political surge” to address governance issues and accountability, in line with the People’s Coalition recommendations. French, British, EU and UN officials have affirmed how instrumental civil society’s efforts have been in driving this shift. In the words of the UK’s Sahel envoy: the People’s Coalition “created the atmosphere for these political changes to occur”.

Yet this new consensus for a revised approach has yet to translate into more safety for civilians in the Sahel. Furthermore, it is at risk of unravelling amidst concerning setbacks: military coups in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso; increasing attacks by jihadist groups; proliferation of self-defence groups and possible use of private military companies. More than ever, civil society pressure is needed to put into practice the “civilian surge” governments committed to. The People’s Coalition for the Sahel and its more than 50 members will continue to hold governments to account in the urgent search for protection and peace for the people of the Sahel.