Ambassadorial-level meeting of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) on peacebuilding in the Sahel

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Thank you, Mr. Chair, for convening this meeting and to the briefers for their statements.

The countries in the Sahel face dire challenges of transnational crime, terrorism and violent extremism. These remain challenges for peace, stability, and sustainable development, despite efforts of the countries to address them, and the support provided by the region and the international community.

Excellencies, civilians are paying a heavy price for the insecurity in the Sahel region. Today’s meeting is a welcome opportunity to discuss ways for a security-based response to be accompanied by preventative efforts, and I will raise a few points in this regard.

Firstly, we need people-centered approaches and partnerships between humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and climate actors.

Both terrorists and perpetrators of organized crime are taking advantage of inter-communal tensions and the security and economic needs of many communities, and they thrive in areas where the state is absent. These challenges are often exacerbated by the adverse effects of climate change.

How could we prevent this?

Putting people at the center enables our efforts to address root causes of instability and insecurity through inclusive and rights-based governance, climate adaptation, social protection, education, and job creation, in particular for young people. Indeed, the promotion and protection of the rule of law and human rights is a prerequisite for prevention. Lack thereof may simply result in reinforcement of the root causes of terrorism and violent extremism.

Secondly, inclusive and local solutions are key to sustainable results.

To this end, we need involvement of civil society across the board. This includes empowering youth, women, religious, cultural and education leaders, and all other concerned civil society actors. It also includes a gender transformative approach. When prevention efforts rely upon such a diversity of experiences and local knowledge, they extend the reach, responsiveness, and effictiveness of responses through context-specific, tailored solutions, rather than one size fits all-models.

Lastly, Denmark favours equal partnerships, and I would like to ask the briefers:

Could you share any promising practices on building inclusive, innovative partnerships in the development and implementation of counter-terrorism policies in the Sahel region?

I thank you.