Other documents that may interest you :

• Podcast / Governance, Inclusion,

  Restoring Hope and Aspiration for Youth: The Promising Commitment of the Senegal Youth Consortium 19/08/2025

  Summary :

  This article, published on August 17, 2025, in the Les Voix(es) de WATHI podcast series, discusses West Africa’s youth challenges, focusing on Senegal...

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  Country : Mali , Senegal , Benin

  Organizations : WATHI
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Podcast / Governance, Inclusion,
Restoring Hope and Aspiration for Youth: The Promising Commitment of the Senegal Youth Consortium 19/08/2025
Summary :
This article, published on August 17, 2025, in the Les Voix(es) de WATHI podcast series, discusses West Africa’s youth challenges, focusing on Senegal where half of the population will be under 25 by 2050. Confronted with barriers in education, employment, and civic participation, the Consortium Jeunesse Sénégal (CJS)—launched in 2020—brings together ten organizations to establish an enabling ecosystem for youth empowerment. It is founded on three pillars—Jang (learning), Bokk (inclusion), and Ligeey (employability)—and initiated the ambitious Yaakaar 2030 (“hope”) program in 2024, backed with nearly 12 billion CFA francs. Its two key components target youth civic engagement (5.2 billion CFA) and entrepreneurship (6.4 billion CFA). Digital platforms like Guichet Jeunesse and Edupop.sn provide centralized access to educational and opportunity resources. The initiative has already inspired similar youth consortiums in Benin and Mali.
Keywords :
Youth, EMPLOYMENT, Numérique, Inclusion
Organizations :
WATHI
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• Academic analysis and Think Tank / Governance,

  Preventing Violent Extremism in The Gambia: Addressing Vulnerabilities and Strengthening Resilience 02/12/2025

  Summary :

  This policy brief examines why The Gambia, despite being ranked among Africa’s safest countries, remains vulnerable to violent extremism. Regional ins...

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  Country : Burkina Faso , Gambia , Mauritania , Niger , Senegal , Guinea-Bissau

  Organizations : WATHI
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Academic analysis and Think Tank / Governance,
Preventing Violent Extremism in The Gambia: Addressing Vulnerabilities and Strengthening Resilience 02/12/2025
Summary :
This policy brief examines why The Gambia, despite being ranked among Africa’s safest countries, remains vulnerable to violent extremism. Regional insecurity—especially Mali’s crisis, Sahelian instability, and porous borders—creates significant exposure risks. Internal vulnerabilities amplify these threats: growing religious radicalization within some madrasa systems, the influence of reformist preachers, rising sectarian tensions, and severe youth unemployment. The brief stresses the need for a multisectoral approach combining security reform, stronger governance, regulation of religious education, community mediation, youth engagement, and empowerment of women and local leaders. Efforts led by the Gambian government, ECOWAS, civil society, and youth organizations—such as security sector reform, counterterrorism strategies, peace education initiatives, and the Youth, Peace and Security Action Plan—highlight progress. However, coordination remains weak, institutions operate in silos, and rural communities face structural marginalization and limited state presence, which heighten their vulnerability to radicalization and extremist narratives. Strengthening resilience requires sustained, integrated, and community-centered interventions.
Keywords :
Governance, Security, Youth, Extremism, Vulnerability, Violence, Radicalisation
Organizations :
WATHI
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• Podcast / Governance, Security and human rights,

  The Captain-President, Deepfakes, and the Deadly Poison of Disinformation 21/05/2025

  Summary :

  This podcast-article warns against the growing spread of disinformation in West Africa, especially centered around Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Fas...

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  Country : Burkina Faso , Mali , Niger , Nigeria , Senegal , Benin , Ghana , South Africa , Kenya

  Organizations : WATHI
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Podcast / Governance, Security and human rights,
The Captain-President, Deepfakes, and the Deadly Poison of Disinformation 21/05/2025
Summary :
This podcast-article warns against the growing spread of disinformation in West Africa, especially centered around Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s transitional leader. AI-generated deepfakes glorify him as a pan-African hero, widely circulating on social media and fueling polarization. The author highlights the decline of rational discourse, replaced by radical and binary narratives. He stresses the danger this manipulation poses to democracy, social cohesion, and youth mobilization. The piece also denounces repression in Burkina Faso and the departure of educated professionals from the Sahel. Drawing on Thomas Sankara’s legacy, the author calls for critical thinking and warns against youth being exploited by authoritarian figures using digital disinformation as a weapon.
Keywords :
Youth, Réseaux sociaux, Disinformation
Organizations :
WATHI
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• Digital platform / Governance, Resilience,

  Building the Future Differently: A West African Compass for Transitions 08/08/2025

  Summary :

  West Africa confronts profound challenges — climate change, demographic pressure, rapid urbanization, technological shifts — amid persistent vulnerabi...

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  Country : Nigeria

  Organizations : WATHI
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Digital platform / Governance, Resilience,
Building the Future Differently: A West African Compass for Transitions 08/08/2025
Summary :
West Africa confronts profound challenges — climate change, demographic pressure, rapid urbanization, technological shifts — amid persistent vulnerabilities but also significant opportunities. This op-ed by Marie-Noël Maffon, published on July 31, 2025 in WATHI’s Tribune section, advocates for an “African compass for transitions,” rooted in endogenous transformation. It emphasizes building resilience, investing in human capital, and advancing economic sovereignty, with youth and local knowledge as drivers of inclusive governance. The article highlights the severe impact of climate — floods, droughts, agricultural losses — threatening food security and livelihoods. Water-related tensions, particularly in the Lake Chad basin and Niger River valley, underscore the heightened risk of conflict. The most vulnerable — women, children, small-scale farmers, indigenous populations — are bearing the brunt of this multidimensional crisis.
Keywords :
Sovereignty, Youth, Transition, Inclusion
Organizations :
WATHI
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