12 October 2023, Virtual – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) actively participated and contributed to the brainstorming roundtable dedicated to the results of the meetings organized by IPU during the first year of the implementation of the Call of the Sahel Initiative.

PAM, a founding member of the Call of the Sahel, was represented by Hon. Abdelouahab Yagoubi, Member of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria. Other partner international assemblies were present, such as the Arab Parliament and the G5 Sahel Inter-Parliamentary Committee, which are co-sponsor of the Initiative with PAM.

The Call of the Sahel was launched in September 2021 at the First Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism, held in Vienna. On that occasion, parliamentarians called upon the renewal of the global commitment to strengthen international cooperation with the Sahel countries and their peoples, to prevent and combat terrorism, as well as invest in education, sustainable development, poverty reduction, and training for young people.

In this regard, throughout 2023, five meetings of parliamentary assemblies were organized on five key areas: environment, engagement of local communities, security, education, and economic development.

The meetings also foresaw discussions with experts from international research centers and organizations, such as the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and the World Bank (WB), and UN specialized agencies, among which, the UNODC, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNFPA, UNESCO, and UNICEF.

In his intervention, Hon. Yagoubi emphasized the urgency to restore democracy and rule of law in the Sahel countries, being plagued by many coups’ d’état. He also highlighted the intricate connection between security and development in the region, stressing the need of safeguarding education rights for the youth and addressing the impacts of climate change on local populations – among others, uncontrolled mass migration flows towards northern countries, with the consequent exploitation of the suffering of migrants by terrorist and criminal organizations, such as the Wagner Group.

Participants unanimously agreed on five main points to be used as a reference for the implementation of the next phase of the Call of the Sahel Initiative:

• Immediate action.
• Harmonizing the implementation of global initiatives regarding the Sahel countries with regional efforts.
• Solutions emerging from the direct engagement with impacted communities: African-led solutions to problems affecting Africa.
• Rebuilding trust among regional and international stakeholders.
• Recognizing the pivotal role of parliaments in restoring confidence in institutions and the rule of law.

In addition, instead of creating a technical secretariat, participants agreed on the option of establishing a dedicated committee, within the IPU High-Level Advisory Group on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, to monitor the implementation of the future actions of the Call of the Sahel.

The results of the roundtable will be presented at the Second Global Parliamentary Summit on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, scheduled to take place on 25 October 2023, in Luanda, Angola. //