The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, alerted the United Nations Security Council on Thursday 28 May to the “seriousness of the crisis” in the Sahel.
“The situation continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate”, he said in a speech, calling for doing more and doing it better.
By way of example, Mr Borrell said that more than 4,000 people have been killed in terrorist attacks since the beginning of the year, that 800,000 people have been displaced in Burkina Faso, seven times more than a year ago, and that about 50 million people are at risk of food insecurity as a result of terrorism and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The High Representative also described the Sahel as “test case with all elements of modern foreign policy agenda being at play”. “Security, extremism and terrorism, governance, sustainable development, climate change all drive the dynamics of the conflict and explain why we need an integrated approach”, he explained.
Since 2014, the EU and its Member States have provided financial support to the region amounting to almost €9 billion, Mr Borrell recalled, and also highlighted the three EU CSDP missions in the region (EUTM Mali, EUCAP Sahel Mali, EUCAP Niger). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)