Sahel Alliance Reaffirms Partnership With G-5 Sahel

At the Fourth General Assembly held on 10 July in Nouakchott, members of the Sahel Alliance reaffirmed their partnership with the G-5 Sahel countries. The final communique of the General Assembly stressed the need to support regional integration and solidarity to address the challenges facing the region, strengthen and coordinate support to meet the urgent needs of the people of the Sahel region on the basis of clearly defined mutual commitments. It recommended strengthening the effectiveness of the Sahel Alliance as a platform for coordination and dialogue and continuing efforts to ensure that vulnerable areas, particularly those vulnerable to the spread of violent extremism, have access to basic services, economic and employment opportunities. During a news conference held on the sidelines of the General Assembly, Mr. Abdessalam Mohamed Saleh, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, praised the work of the Spanish presidency of the Alliance during the past three years, and congratulated Germany on assuming the leadership of the Alliance. It pointed out that during its meeting on 9 July in Nouakchott, the G-5 Sahel Council of Ministers had adopted priority programs to strengthen and develop the group, noting that those programs were presented before the General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance. For her part, Ms. Sevina Schulz, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, said that the Sahel Alliance had brought together all donors to support the region, stressing her commitment to creating more jobs, training opportunities, and better coverage of basic needs in the Sahel region.