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Event

Mali and the Sahel – finding the balance between security and development

Ambassador and former Malian foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop comes to NUPI to discuss the balance between security and development in Mali and the broader Sahel region, and the balance between the priorities of external stakeholders and local needs.
23 May 2018
10:00 Europe/Oslo
Language: English
NUPI
Seminar

Themes

  • Security policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • English

The Sahel region confronts both its inhabitants and the international community with a huge set of serious challenges, ranging from weak states, transnational crime and jihadist insurgencies to poverty, refugees and lack of development. Thus, as the international community and Europe fear a deepening of the crisis, the region is higher on the international agenda than it ever has been, with several international interventions: by France (Operation Barkhane), the United Nations (MINUSMA), and several EU operations (CIVCAP-Sahel and the EUTM Mali). Despite all these efforts and the conclusion of a peace agreement for Mali in Algiers in 2015, the situation on the ground is not improving, and in Mali the conflict has spilled over from the northern to the central region.

The question that will be discussed in this seminar is if current approaches contains the right balance between security and development, and what balance there should be between the priorities of external stakeholders and the local needs in the region.

Amb. Diop is now serving as Special Advisor to the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and is based at the African Union in Addis Ababa. Diop more recently served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mali as the country was recovering from a political and security crisis. As Foreign Affairs Minister, Diop worked on behalf of the Malian government as chief negotiator in the drafting of the 2015 Algiers Peace Accords with rebel groups.

Senior Research Fellow at NUPI Kari Osland chairs the meeting, and Research Professor Morten Bøås will comment.

Speakers

Abdoulaye Diop
Ambassador and former Malian foreign minister
Morten Bøås
Research Professor
23 May 2018
10:00 Europe/Oslo
Language: English
NUPI
Seminar

Themes

  • Security policy
  • Africa
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • English