Mali
September 15 - October 14, 2016: Insecurity in remote border regions of the Sahel is due to the porosity of borders, weak state capacity, illicit trafficking of arms, drugs and people, and the presence of armed extremist Islamist groups. The fall of Libya’s Col. Gadhafi in 2011 set off a chain of events that led to increased levels of conflict and insecurity in the Sahel and Sahara regions and a breakdown of trust and communication between communities (nomadic and sedentary) and local border authorities and security providers.
CICR Involvement
CICR was contracted by the Danish Demining Group (DDG) to build the capacity of staff working on its the Border Security and Management program (BSM) in the Sahel region, covering Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, in conflict management, group dialogue and facilitation. The BSM program seeks to reduce armed violence, improve community safety, and enhance border security and management capacity and coordination in the Liptako-Gourma region through the establishment of a comprehensive border management approach. As part of this program DDG identifies sources of conflict in border areas and works with security providers at local and national levels to strengthen conflict prevention and management, promote dialogue and information sharing between communities and authorities. The aim is also to strengthen the capacities of community members or local conflict resolution mechanisms. In September 2016 a CICR practitioner provided the following services:
- Two weeks of training in conflict resolution and group facilitation to 26 DDG staff working in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso
- Coaching and mentoring for staff/participants as they organized and conducted their own large group dialogue process
- Provided support to program development through facilitated reflection on how to strengthen current programming though the incorporation of learning by adapting existing activities, designing new activities and in the monitoring and evaluation of conflict management program outcomes.
Testimonials
From both the training and participants of the community dialogue:
