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 - with more than 4,500 French troops countering Islamist insurgencies, where violence by militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State has 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. Hence it is very important that global anti-terrorist cooperation is improved in the Sahel - with the assistance of the international community - to restore rule-of-law, human rights, peace and prosperity in this beautiful region.