Is there still room for dialogue in the Central Sahel?

This is a key question addressed in the FBA-research report Prospects for Dialogue in the Central Sahel, by Yvan Guichaoua, Jenny Lorentzen and Sidy Mariko.
Three topical arenas of dialogue are reviewed: regional diplomatic dialogue, dialogue with jihadist insurgents, and women’s participation in conflict resolution and national dialogue processes.

The report takes stock of progress made in these arenas over the years and discusses the remaining challenges under the Sahelian military regimes. It makes concrete recommendations to national governments and authorities, regional authorities and international partners summarized below:

• To support regional diplomatic dialogue, national governments/authorities should distance themselves from strictly adversarial military rhetoric and integrate in their mode of action with their neighbours the full range of political and diplomatic conflict resolution mechanisms, notably by recognising the interests of populations directly impacted by tensions in their borderlands and empowering their representatives;
• To support dialogue with jihadists, national governments/authorities should recognise the possible short-term benefits of local dialogues for populations, but also their inability to generate sustainable peace. High-level dialogue presents its challenges, but the eventual collective payoff may be much higher.
• To support women’s participation in conflict resolution and dialogue processes, national governments/authorities should continue to promote the meaningful participation of women and other marginalised groups in dialogue initiatives, and in doing so, ensure that a diversity of voices are included, and that official appointments and nominations are in line with national legislation (e.g. on gender quotas).

Click here to access the full report as PDF.