Deeply concerned by the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the G5 Sahel area, the EU and the G5 Sahel Foreign Ministers, meeting in Ougadougou on Tuesday 9 July, reiterated their determination to make the G5 Sahel Force fully operational and established their priorities for consolidating their security and development partnership.
This fifth ministerial meeting between the EU and the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad) was co-chaired by Burkina Faso's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Alpha Barry, whose country currently chairs the G5 Sahel, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
In a joint statement, the two parties cite as priorities:- ownership of measures by the five G5 Sahel countries, in particular through enhanced coordination by the Permanent Secretariat; - the definition of an integrated framework for action on security and development and the identification of priority areas on which the parties' efforts will focus; - innovation in the modalities for implementing aid, with regard to both support for the Joint Force and development actions for responding rapidly to the population’s expectations.
On this basis, the EU will support the Joint Force, including its police component, with an additional €138 million (see EUROPE 12254/10, EUROPE 11968/7).
A decision was also taken to set up a roadmap for defining and operationalizing the integrated action framework.
Both sides welcomed the efforts made by the G5 Sahel States to mobilise domestic resources to deal with terrorism in all its forms. They also stressed the importance of increased and immediate engagement in fragile areas to provide state services: security, justice, and basic social services. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)