Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Study context
The concept of “stabilisation” appeared twenty years ago in Afghanistan after the attacks perpetrated by Al Qaeda in New York on 9/11/2001. It was further developed during the second US military intervention in Iraq in 2003, and in Libya beginning in 2011. Although there is no internationally recognised definition of the concept, stabilisation interventions are part of the “Return of the State” strategy, with the establishment of law-and-order apparatus and service delivery systems. Following the turmoil caused by the international intervention in Libya, the Sahel region entered a period of destabilisation. Jihadist groups began to control large parts of northern Mali. Despite a robust French military operation (Operation Serval6 ) in Mali in 2013 the destabilisation process expanded to central Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Meanwhile, neighbouring countries started to fear possible spillover effects on their territories. New “stabilisation” approaches have been developed in the context of the Sahel crisis which now affects a number of different countries across large parts of francophone West Africa. Stabilisation raises multiple questions for the numerous actors involved. It raises concerns about relevance and efficiency of political approaches (which side to support, who to negotiate with and for what), as well as concerns about unwanted consequences. These factors are also relevant for the humanitarian sector. It is in this context that Groupe URD (www.urd.org) was commissioned7 by FCDO to conduct a study to explore these concerns and ways of improving the coexistence of stabilisation and humanitarian interventions. The geographical coverage of the study includes Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania, Senegal and countries of the Gulf of Guinea.
This report is a synthesis of three standalone papers : ⮚ Paper N°1: Mali and Burkina Faso: what went wrong ⮚ Paper N°2: Niger and Mauritania: promising national and societal stabilisation approaches ⮚ Paper N°3: Senegal and countries from the Gulf of Guinea: the preventive approach.
The main findings of these standalone papers are presented in Annex 2.