Governments and private institutions must prioritise effective collaboration to tackle insurgencies and proliferation of arms in the Sahel and coastal regions of Africa to propel sustainable peace and development.
That was the call made when the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Japan launched a US$491,940 one-year project in Accra.
The project would have implementation support from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
Ghana, Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are the beneficiary countries of the
project, themed: “Preventing violent extremism, radicalisation and small arms proliferation in the Sahel and adjoining Coastal Countries in West Africa.”
Speaking at the launch, Dr Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative, emphasised the need for a stronger State and non-state to help fight threats that undermined peace, security and development in African countries.
“To ensure a stable West African sub-region, we need more effective collaboration and partnerships across borders to effectively deal with root causes and stamp out the double threat of violent extremism and small arms proliferation,” she said.
Dr Lusigi explained that the rising insecurity and instability across borders was fueling forced displacement and contributing to increased multi-dimensional poverty as well as structural and gender-based inequalities.
That, she said, had to be “eagerly addressed,” and remarked that UNDP was working with national institutions, security agencies and communities to digitally track and prevent small arms proliferation and reverse the effects of small arms violence.
The Commandant at KAIPTC, Major General Addo Gyane stated that rising armed conflict, deteriorating security, widespread poverty and the impact of climate change were posing a real threat to countries in the sub-region.
Attacks on civilians and infrastructure and conflict between the state and non-state armed groups have led to massive population displacement across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, he said.
Referring to a January 2023 UN Security Briefing report, he said that operations by armed groups, violent extremists and criminal networks had forced the closure of some 7,000 health centres and more than 10,000 schools, with millions of children affected.
As such, the Commandant said interventions that were aimed at ensuring the resilience of communities and state actors in addressing the myriad threats had become very crucial.
The Chief Director at the Ministry of the Interior, Adelaide Anno-Kumi, said there was a possibility of a wide spread of violent extremism in Africa, which could seriously affect development.
“We must realise that violent extremism does not rise in a vacuum, thus, the need for a collective approach by States, international organisations, and civil society groups to eradicate the root causes,” she said.
She said Ghana had developed a society-approach of prevention, pre-empting, protecting, and responding that encompassed education and awareness creation with targeted investments is security and social cohesion.
Hisanobu Mochizuki, the Ambassador of Japan to Ghana, referred to his country, which had undergone reconstruction from the destruction of war in the past, making Japan to be aware of “how precious peace is.”
He said that had made the government of Japan to take on the role of proactively contributing to peace and security in the world, including the Sahel and coastal regions of Africa.
“For the sake of protection of civilians as well as human and economic development, considerable effort is needed to tackle the root causes of insecurities in the Sahel,” Mr Mochizuki said.
“It is our hope that this project along with other security and socio-economic related projects which Japan will support, will help to prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism and build human security and the resilience of individuals in the Sahel,” he said.
The one-year project, under the Japan-UNDP Partnership Fund sought to improve knowledge and information-sharing among security personnel and civil society actors in in West Africa.
That was to help prevent and counter terrorism, violent extremism, and small arms proliferation, diversions and trafficking in seven countries through capacity development, training of trainers and a regional policy and experience sharing.
The project would source some logistics, including motorbikes for four of the seven participating countries, particularly those in the border areas to improve the effectiveness of their work.
According to the Global Terrorism Index for 2023, the Sahel accounted for more terrorism related deaths in 2022 than both South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) combined.
Deaths in the Sahel constituted 43 per cent of the global total in 2022, compared to one per cent in 2007, with Burkina Faso and Mali, accounting for as high as 73 per cent of terrorism deaths in the Sahel within the period under review.
The period also recorded increased terror activities in the northern parts of Togo and Benin, as part of a wider southward spread of violent extremism and terrorism from the Sahel to coastal West Africa states.
