Nouakchott, Mauritania, July 4, 2018/- The G5 Sahel Extraordinary Summit that was held on July 2, 2018 in Nouakchott, ended with ‘very strong decisions’ being taken so that ‘(the operationalization of the Joint Force can) be fully operational,’ said H.E. Issoufou Mahamadou, the President of Niger.
G5 Sahel or G5S is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development, policies and security matters in West Africa.
The meeting, organized on the sidelines of the 31st Summit of the African Union (AU), gathered around the President of G5 Sahel, HE Issoufou Mahamadou, the four other heads of state of G5 Sahel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Other decisions including the deployment of a diplomatic offensive have also been taken “to make more operational” the mobilization of resources.
During a press briefing following the summit, President Issoufou Mahamadou, on behalf of Mauritanian President, H.E. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Chad President H.E. Idriss Déby, President of Burkina Faso, H.E. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and Mali President H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, thanked, French President H.E. Emmanuel Macron who kindly agreed to participate in this meeting.
‘President Macron has always supported us on all fronts, especially in the fight against terrorism in the G5 Sahel area and in mobilizing resources for the development of our countries.’
The meeting, held at the G5 Sahel Defense College (War School), focused on two topics: the operationalization of the G5 Sahel Joint Force and the Priority Investment Program.
On the concept of operations, the Joint Force Staff is going to reflect on how to make interventions on the ground more effective.
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‘We have agreed to continue advocacy to put the G5 Sahel Force under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which will address the problem of sustained funding for the Joint Force,’ he said. .
Regarding the Priority Investment Program in the G5 Sahel area, the Summit decided “to intervene very quickly in fragile areas, in border areas. Projects have already been identified by the Permanent Secretariat, which, in connection with the Alliance for the Sahel, will strive to achieve them in fragile areas under the threat of terrorists.
‘It is to support the populations of these areas by providing them with basic social infrastructure: education, health, access to water,’ said President Mahamadou.
‘We will convene a coordination meeting in Nouakchott on 6 December 2018 to discuss the various projects,’ he concluded.