People's Coalition for the Sahel

The People's Coalition for the Sahel (French: Coalition citoyenne pour le Sahel) is an alliance of civil-society organisations from the Sahel and West Africa launched on 16 July 2020. It was formed to demand a solution for the Sahel that protects civilian populations, emerging in response to the creation of the Coalition for the Sahel at the G5 Sahel summit held in Pau in January 2020. The coalition brings together local and regional civil-society groups alongside international NGOs such as Action Against Hunger, CARE International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Médecins du Monde, Oxfam International and Plan International. The coalition's public profile rests on advocacy and research. In April 2021 it presented the document "Sahel: Ce qui doit changer. Pour une nouvelle approche centrée sur les besoins des populations" (Sahel: What must change. For a new approach centred on people's needs), supported by around fifty organisations, arguing for a change of strategy in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. Its spokespeople have included Niagalé Bagayoko, president of the African Security Sector Network; Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal, historian, former minister and former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Mali; Assitan Diallo, president of the Association of African Women for Research and Development (AFARD, Mali); and Drissa Traoré of the Malian Association for Human Rights (AMDH). The coalition's demands are organised around four pillars: placing the protection of civilians and human security at the heart of the response to the Sahel; creating a comprehensive political strategy that addresses the root causes of insecurity; responding to humanitarian emergencies and ensuring that aid is adapted to development; and fighting impunity and guaranteeing access to justice for all. Its first report, "Sahel, what must change", denounced the failure of the counter-terrorism policy pursued over the previous eight years and argued that between 2017 and 2020 attacks against civilians multiplied fivefold. It recommended favouring dialogue, including with armed groups, responding to humanitarian emergencies — with 15 million people in need of assistance — and combating impunity, noting that despite opened investigations no judicial proceedings had been developed by 2020 to punish those responsible for excesses against civilians. The coalition operates as an advocacy platform rather than a commercial enterprise, publishing reports, position papers and communications in French and English through its website. It positions itself as a citizen counterweight to official international coalitions in the Sahel, insisting that counter-terrorism cannot be the only response and that a more local approach is needed to address the deep causes of the crisis.

The People's Coalition for the Sahel was launched on 16 July 2020 as an alliance of civil-society organisations from the Sahel and West Africa. Its formation was a direct response to the creation of the Coalition for the Sahel at the G5 Sahel summit held in Pau in January 2020. Civil-society organisations judged the new international coalition for the Sahel to be insufficient, and the People's Coalition emerged to demand a solution for the Sahel that protects civilian populations. The initiative was driven by the observation that counter-terrorism could not be the only response and that a more local approach was needed to address the deep causes of the crisis. As political scientist Niagalé Bagayoko, one of the coalition's spokespeople, put it, "The fight against terrorism cannot be the only response; a more local approach is needed to confront the deep causes of the crisis." In April 2021 the coalition presented the document "Sahel: Ce qui doit changer. Pour une nouvelle approche centrée sur les besoins des populations" (Sahel: What must change. For a new approach centred on people's needs), supported by around fifty organisations. The document defended the need for a change of strategy in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. The coalition's first report, "Sahel, what must change", denounced the failure of the counter-terrorism policy developed over the previous eight years in the Sahel and argued that the protection of civilian populations should be placed at the heart of the strategy. It also denounced that between 2017 and 2020 attacks against civilians multiplied fivefold. The organisation recommended favouring dialogue, including with armed groups, responding to humanitarian emergencies — given that 15 million people were in need of assistance — and combating impunity, noting that despite opened investigations no judicial proceedings had been developed by 2020 to punish those responsible for excesses against civilians. The coalition's demands are structured around four pillars: placing the protection of civilians and human security at the heart of the response to the Sahel; creating a comprehensive political strategy that responds to the deep causes of insecurity; responding to humanitarian emergencies and ensuring that aid is adapted to development; and fighting impunity and guaranteeing access to justice for all. The coalition is supported by international NGOs including Action Against Hunger, CARE International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Médecins du Monde, Oxfam International and Plan International. Its spokespeople have included Niagalé Bagayoko, Abdoulaye Bathily, Assitan Diallo and Drissa Traoré. The coalition publishes its materials in French and English through its website.

• 2021

  Coalition presents the document "Sahel: Ce qui doit changer" supported by around fifty organisations.

• 2020

  G5 Sahel summit held in Pau creates the Coalition for the Sahel, prompting civil-society response.

• 2020

  People's Coalition for the Sahel launched as an alliance of civil-society organisations from the Sahel and West Africa.

Civil-society advocacy coalition demanding a civilian-protection-centred strategy for the Sahel.

• 2021

  "Sahel: Ce qui doit changer. Pour une nouvelle approche centrée sur les besoins des populations"

  Advocacy document presented in April 2021, supported by around fifty organisations, defending a change of strategy in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.

• "Sahel, what must change" (first report)

  First report denouncing the failure of the counter-terrorism policy developed over the previous eight years and arguing that civilian protection should be at the heart of the strategy.

1. 1People's Coalition for the Sahelwikidata.org
2. 2Coalición ciudadana para el Saheles.wikipedia.org
3. 3People's Coalition for the Sahel websitesahelpeoplescoalition.org