Healing the Sahel - Improving Peace, Prosperity and Human Rights in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the conflict-ridden Sahel belt - and only a coordinated, holistic approach will overcome the humanitarian crisis and lead to an improvement in the lives of the millions of afflicted people in the Sahel.The region has also become the scene of repeated clashes with violent extremists.As things stand, local troops are failing to effectively counter terrorist insurgencies - violence by militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State having spread in recent years. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died in the violence. The conflict across the Sahel has enflamed ethnic tensions in the region and thousands have fled their homes in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. It should also be noted, that Mali has struggled to regain stability since 2012, when ethnic Tuareg rebels and loosely aligned armed groups seized the northern two-thirds of the country.Forces from former colonial power France intervened and helped beat the armed groups in 2013, but violent extremists regrouped in the desert and began carrying out regular attacks on the army and civilians. They have since exported their methods to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger where violence has skyrocketed in recent years, leaving a grave humanitarian crisis in its wake.A statement signed by France and its African and European allies said that 'multiple obstructions' by Mali’s ruling military government meant that the conditions were no longer in place to operate in the country.On that note, we would like to express our solidarity to the current government and people of Mali - in particular President Assimi Goïta and Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga - and that we understand their reluctance to cooperate and work together with 'La France' - since She was a former colonial power in the region.However, in all humility, we would also like to make President Assimi Goïta and Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla aware, that they have a moral and legal obligation to uphold and protect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in the land - which they are currently failing to do. Hence it is imperative that global anti-terrorist cooperation is improved in the Sahel - with the assistance of the International Community - to restore stability, rule-of-law, the UDHR and the UNCRC in the beautiful country of Mali.