Jabir Touré's article, published in the Revue internationale des francophonies, examines the efforts of French-speaking Sahel countries in combating terrorism, focusing on the G5 Sahel. Established in 2014 by Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad, the G5 Sahel is an intergovernmental organization aiming to enhance security and development in the region. Despite international support, notably from France through Operation Barkhane, and the creation of Task Force Takuba in 2020, the G5 Sahel joint force struggles to reach full operational capacity. Terrorist groups like the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) have expanded their influence, making 2019 particularly deadly. However, since the Pau Summit in January 2020, improved coordination between national forces and their partners has partially reversed the balance of power on the ground.

Politics, Political party, State, Natural ressources, Peace, Justice, Conflict, Jihad, Terrorism, Gold

The article from the Revue internationale des francophonies examines the importance of social bonds between peacekeeping forces and civilian populations, focusing on MINUSMA in Mali. It highlights that traditional peacekeeping operations, centered on aspects such as ceasefire monitoring and population protection, often fail due to the lack of meaningful social interactions with local communities. The author proposes an alternative approach focused on strengthening social bonds, including proficiency in the local language, humanitarian aid, cultural heritage protection, promotion of intercommunity dialogue, and participation in sports and cultural activities. This strategy aims to establish lasting peace by actively involving civilian populations in the stabilization process.

State, Natural ressources, Peace, Justice, Conflict, Gold, Social, Threat, Civil Society, Crisis

This article explores the evolution and impact of terrorism in Africa, highlighting its recent mutations and its adaptation to political and geopolitical contexts. It highlights the rise of radical Islamist groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, AQIM, and their common goals of establishing Islamic regimes based on Sharia law. The fragmentation of states, the inability to control vast and under-administered territories, as well as external influences such as the ideology of Daesh, maintain the expansion of these groups. Key areas, including the Sahel, Sinai and East Africa, are identified as major hotbeds of terrorist activity. The article stresses the urgency of a coordinated and adapted response to counter this growing threat and stabilize the continent.

Politics, Political party, Natural ressources, Security, Jihad, Terrorism, Gold, Human security, Violence, Threat

The article explores the geopolitics of terrorism in Africa, analyzing the challenges and responses proposed by African states and their international partners. It highlighted the rapid adaptation of terrorist groups such as AQIM, MUJAO and Boko Haram, faced with often ineffective strategies. Initiatives such as the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) are struggling to gain traction due to problems of coordination, financing and foreign influences that prioritize their strategic interests. Better governance, enhanced cooperation and comprehensive approaches are essential to counter the rise of terrorism, as is the fight against its financing and support. The article calls for a melting down of African armies and the establishment of multidimensional strategies, integrating the ideological, educational and economic aspects.

Politics, Political party, State, Natural ressources, Security, Jihad, Terrorism, Gold, Human security, Threat

The UNODC report of January 2023 highlights the trafficking of medical products in the Sahel, including falsified, substandard and unauthorized medicines. Between January 2017 and December 2021, more than 605 tons of these products were seized during international police operations. The investigation reveals the involvement of various actors, including employees of pharmaceutical companies, civil servants, law enforcement officers, members of health agencies and street vendors, all motivated by financial gain. This trafficking seriously compromises public health and security in the region.

Security, Trafic, Santé publique, Médicament

The Groupe URD (2023) article analyses the obstacles hindering access to reproductive health care for Chadian adolescent girls. Health infrastructure, often dilapidated and poorly located, discourages its use by young people. Social norms and suspicions surrounding premarital sexuality dissuade adolescent girls from seeking contraceptive services, for fear of being stigmatized. The rate of contraceptive use remains low, with only 8 to 9% of women of reproductive age using it. Early pregnancies are common, partly due to child marriage. Illegal abortions, often carried out in unsafe conditions, lead to serious complications. Gender-based violence is widespread, with one in three women having suffered physical violence since the age of 15. The HIV prevalence rate is 1.2%, with HIV positivity higher among women, particularly adolescent girls.

Governance, Gender, Education, Health

The article, titled “Nigeria’s Unhappy Union: How Rising Insecurity Threatens the Country’s Future,” examines the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria. It highlights that recent attacks, such as the one on the police headquarters and a prison in Imo State, illustrate the state’s loss of control over violence. The authors identify several factors contributing to this instability, including the rise of secessionist movements, food insecurity, high unemployment, and endemic corruption. They warn of the risks of national disintegration unless urgent measures are taken to strengthen governance and address the socio-economic needs of the population.

Governance, Agriculture, Livestock, Conflict, Jihad, Poverty, Insécurité

The article highlights the need for an integrated approach combining security and development to stabilize the Sahel, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. It highlights the region's growth potential, threatened by growing insecurity and a rapidly expanding population. Experts reject pessimistic outlooks, arguing that investments in peace and development would be cheaper than managing the consequences of a protracted crisis. They call for collaboration between researchers, diplomats, the military, humanitarians and development actors to define effective responses. The article also highlights the changing patterns of violence in West Africa, with the emergence of electoral conflicts, armed insurgencies and banditry, often linked to drug trafficking, arms trafficking and religious extremism.

Governance, Economic Development, Security, Development

The lack of pasture space in the Ferlo is nowadays the major concern of herders and various development actors in the sylvopastoral zone. It appears to be the main (re)known symptom, almost habitual, of the cyclical crises affecting pastoralism in Senegal. On the face of it, this situation can be interpreted as a banal ‘tragedy of the commons’, characterised by a significant increase in pressure on the resource, which is itself poorly managed since it belongs to everyone, and whose regeneration is furthermore hampered by both natural (climatic disruption) and anthropogenic (overgrazing, progression of the agricultural front) factors. However, in this situation as in others, the tragedy of the commons is a flawed, even simplistic, interpretative scheme, focusing mainly on the effects of animal demography and community management of grazing land, which are considered to be deleterious. A more detailed analysis of the various factors involved in this "grazing crisis" and the observation of the adaptive strategies of the farmers and the responses proposed by the differents organisations (ngos etc.) supporting the sector (fodder crops, food supplements in particular) lead to the formulation of other hypotheses: the fodder shortage might be the inevitable but underestimated consequence of a long series of interventions in the field of pastoral water supply. Also this crisis might reflect the exhaustion of the entire pastoral breeding model and the beginnings of a profound (and perhaps radical) transformation whose prospects remain uncertain. Rather than a tragedy with an inescapable end, should it not be seen as a turning point for the Ferlo and for pastoralist farming as it exists in the present conditions?

Pastoralism, Livestock, Crisis