“The starting point for the significant mobilisation among the international community to deal with the political, security and humanitarian situation in the Sahel has often been the production of policy papers known as ‘Sahel strategies’. These strategies and initiatives, many of which were drawn up in the wake of the crises in Libya and Mali, establish a direct link between security and development. Although the scale of such efforts is to be commended in view of the challenges faced in the region, this nonetheless raises the issue of coordination in order to better carry out the programmes and projects aiming to improve the everyday life of people in the Sahel. From the outset it is important to point out that the terms Sahel ‘strategies’ or ‘initiatives’ (sometimes with different titles) actually cover a diverse range of policy or strategic vision documents developed by multilateral organisations, states, groups of states and networks operating in the Sahel region, the geographical scope of which vary depending on the actors involved.”
