This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| International Coalition for the Sahel | |
|---|---|
| Name | International Coalition for the Sahel |
| Formation | 2020 |
| Type | Intergovernmental coalition |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Leader title | Coordinator |
| Region served | Sahel |
| Membership | Multi-state |
International Coalition for the Sahel is an intergovernmental coalition established to coordinate international support for stabilisation, development, and security efforts across the Sahel region of Africa. Launched in 2020, the coalition brings together national governments, multilateral institutions, and regional organisations to align policies and resources addressing insurgency, displacement, and humanitarian crises. It works alongside a range of actors including the African Union, United Nations, European Union, and bilateral partners to synchronise initiatives affecting Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
The Coalition was announced at a high-level meeting hosted in Nouakchott and formalised through consultations with delegations from France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, and members of the G5 Sahel prior to a summit in Paris where representatives from the United Nations and European Union participated. Its creation followed international responses to the Mali War and the intensification of insurgencies linked to groups with ties to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Founding discussions referenced frameworks such as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and strategies advanced by the African Union Commission and the Economic Community of West African States.
The Coalition combines state members, international organisations, and non-state partners in a coordinating secretariat hosted in Paris with liaison offices for the Sahel Alliance and the European External Action Service. Members include NATO partners like Canada and Italy, bilateral actors including Spain and Belgium, and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and United Nations Development Programme. Regional stakeholders include the G5 Sahel countries and the African Development Bank; civil society participants have included representatives from Civicus-affiliated networks and humanitarian organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Coalition’s stated mandate aligns with priorities expressed in declarations by the United Nations Security Council and the European Council: to coordinate counterterrorism support, promote stabilization, facilitate development financing, and address humanitarian needs in line with commitments under the Paris Agreement for climate resilience and the Sustainable Development Goals. It seeks to harmonise assistance consistent with initiatives such as the Niger Basin Authority programmes and to support political processes referenced in agreements like the Algiers Accord and the Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali.
Operational activities have included donor coordination rounds modelled on International Conference on the Great Lakes Region formats, technical missions sharing best practices from the United Kingdom Stabilisation Unit, and partnership projects implemented with the World Food Programme and UNICEF. The Coalition has convened workshops on security sector reform drawing on lessons from Operation Barkhane withdrawal planning and liaised with training programmes linked to the European Training Mission Mali and the United States Africa Command. It has also supported initiatives addressing displacement coordinated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and reconstruction work similar to projects by the African Development Bank.
Funding channels include pooled contributions from national treasuries such as the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and grants administered through the European Commission’s humanitarian instruments, bilateral aid agencies like USAID and Agence Française de Développement, and multilateral financing from the World Bank Group and the European Investment Bank. In-kind resources have involved logistics support from NATO partners and technical assistance from institutions including the International Organization for Migration and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Budgetary allocations reflect programming priorities aligned with multilaterally agreed frameworks like the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
The Coalition operates through liaison mechanisms with the African Union, ECOWAS, and the G5 Sahel joint force, and holds consultative links with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel and delegations of the European External Action Service. It coordinates joint planning with bilateral initiatives such as France’s Sahel policy and US regional strategies under United States Africa Command while engaging multilateral banks and UN agencies to align emergency response and development pipelines. The Coalition has also sought interoperability with regional mediation efforts led by figures associated with the Economic Community of West African States Commission and peace processes observed by the United Nations Security Council.
Critiques have focused on perceived duplication with existing mechanisms like the Sahel Alliance and the G5 Sahel coordination, concerns voiced by member states and civil society about sovereignty and intervention linked to operations such as Operation Barkhane, and debates in forums including the United Nations Security Council over mandates and force posture. Operational challenges include constrained access from coup-related disruptions in Mali and Burkina Faso, funding volatility amid shifting priorities of donors like France and United States, and the complexity of synchronising development projects with security operations in settings affected by climate change-related shocks referenced by agencies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Category:International coalitions