The Doha 2018 Forum opens with focus on crisis resolution in the sahel region

DOHA

The Doha 2018 Forum opened on Saturday with a call for more dialogue, diplomacy and diversity in addressing global issues.

In Africa, the Sahel region is an area where more force has been used than dialogue to end a crisis. For more than seven years, countries in the region, including Mali, have tried unsuccessfully to defeat Islamist militants.

“The situation is not improving, but I don’t think it’s getting worse. It is simply a state of conflict of a certain intensity that even the presence of foreign troops will not be able to resolve. For the simple reason that the root causes of the crisis cannot be resolved by military means. Moussa Mara,Former Prime Minister of Mali

“You cannot fight terrorism by military means alone. You challenge them by investing in political processes by creating jobs, fighting corruption, practising an inclusive policy where women, youth and vulnerable groups are empowered through systems where people’s hopes and aspirations are perceived by systems they can

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“You cannot fight terrorism by military means alone. You challenge them by investing in political processes by creating jobs, fighting corruption, practising an inclusive policy where women, youth and vulnerable groups are empowered through systems where people’s hopes and aspirations are perceived by systems they can recognize.

Since 2012, the Sahel region has been the scene of intense military activity focused on the defeat of extremist groups. With thousands of troops and several billion dollars invested in counter-insurgency operations, the Sahel has never been so militarized. And yet, here at the Doha Forum, it seems that everyone in the world agrees that too much military force destabilizes, rather than pacifies the Sahel.