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.
