While the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), has said that the Sahel faces “the worst humanitarian needs in years requiring an urgent scale-up of emergency response”, the Secretary-General warned just last week that rising insecurity, including the proliferation of terrorist and other non-State armed groups, coupled with political instability, is creating a crisis in the Sahel that poses a “global threat”.They highlighted the underlying challenges in the Sahel, including the surge in violent extremism, growing fragility of the economies of the region due to the impact of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as complex political transitions.
They reaffirmed the support of the four organizations to the work of the Independent High-Level Panel and looked forward to the findings of the Independent Strategic Assessment being presented during the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government set to be issued in February 2023.In their statements on Saturday, the Chair of the AU Commission, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Executive Secretary of the G5 Sahel [a joint force established in 2017 to respond to the expansion of armed and violent extremist groups and deteriorating security in the region], and Mr. Guterres formally launched the Independent High-Level Panel on Security and Development in the Sahel, led by former President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou.