16 July 2024 Speech by Federal Minister Svenja Schulze at the civil society side event of the General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance

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Civil society representatives,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me start with what usually comes at the end: a thank you.

I had the privilege to visit Burkina Faso, Mauretania and Niger recently. In Niger, I met Mariama Chipkaou, who is also here today. Mrs. Chipkaou dedicates her life to educating girls and women. She is the former president of Réseau des Femmes Élues Locales d'Afrique, an activist, a local political leader and a great example of how civil society contributes to development in the Sahel region. And she has led a working group on social cohesion in preparation of this conference. Thank you for your hard work, Mrs. Chipkaou. I know that it pays off.

And thank you to everyone else who has made their way to Berlin today. Who has invested a lot of time, thought and energy into preparing for this conference. Because it is important that we use the Sahel Alliance General Assembly to talk to one another and discuss the role of civil society in the region; Discuss how we can work together to give people in the Sahel prospects and opportunities that they can build on. Especially now, as crises are becoming more intense. Where security is at stake.

The Sahel Alliance has, on numerous occasions, reiterated its commitment to staying engaged in the Sahel. But let’s face it: despite our collective efforts, we can see that climate change, food insecurity and violence still pose significant challenges in the Sahel region. Girls and women, who the German Development Ministry is focussing on particularly, are most vulnerable to these challenges. I am happy to see many female participants amongst you today.

So, I would like to present to you today the Sahel Alliance’s plans for addressing these issues. And I would like to discuss with you how we can deepen cooperation between government and civil society.

Let's start with the Sahel Alliance. During my term of office, the Sahel Alliance has confirmed its focus on three underlying beliefs. First, education leads to work opportunities. Second, social security systems lead to resilience against crises. And third, building up municipal structures helps make basic services available for all people. What do I mean by that specifically?

Without education and work opportunities it is easy for terrorists to recruit; young people in particular. So, together with our partners, my ministry supports numerous education projects in the region. For example, we train teachers and social workers in teaching and integrating internally displaced children. In Burkina Faso, more than 1,800 students have taken part in projects, most of them girls.

Another strategic approach is to improve social security systems. In Mauritania, for example, numerous Sahel Alliance members have helped to expand the national Social Register and Social Aid Transfer program, Tekavoul. 90 per cent of the cash transfers go to women, who use the money to finance the education of their children.

In order to provide more people in the Sahel with basic services, various local stakeholders need to advocate for their needs and make decisions together. Together with the EU, we have set up a program that does exactly that in the border region between Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. In that region, and also outside urban centres, the local population has barely any access to education, water and health.

Which leads me to my second major point: Development cooperation can only be successful if the voices and needs of the local population are included at every stage of the project planning, decision-making and implementation. And that’s where you, civil society actors and representatives of local governments, come into play. You know your people best. You know what has been tried in the past, what works and what doesn’t. You know how to generate support for changes. You can teach us about local challenges and how to address them. At the same time, however, we have to maintain the dialogue with your national governments – change can only come if national and local actors pursue the same goal.

So your voices in this conference are crucial in coming up with concrete solutions that will work. That will make the Sahel region safer, economically stronger and more inclusive. Thank you for being here today.