Following the green light from the United Nations on 21 June, G5 Sahel leaders officially launched a joint military force (FC-G5S) during an extraordinary summit held on 2 July in Bamako. French President Emmanuel Macron participated in the event. He confirmed that the French would back the new force and called for its rapid and effective implementation. Read on

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, and Angel Losada, EU Special Representative for the Sahel, and the G5 Sahel Foreign Ministers (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) met on 5 June in Bamako, Mali, to discuss their strategic partnership. They want to move the establishment of the joint armed force forward to fight against terrorism and to secure, among other things, the border area between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Read on

Of the millions of children who do not complete elementary school in West Africa each year, one third suffer from a disability. Their condition means they are confronted with many barriers to education. As part of its inclusive education programme, Handicap International seeks to remove the many barriers to the education of 170 000 children with disabilities in nine West African countries. Read on

In Mali, “the Algiers Process is painfully slow, and peace is not advancing,” noted Jean-Hervé Jezequel, Deputy Project Director for West Africa at the International Crisis Group, offering his analysis of the situation in an interview on the website Sahelien.com. “The setting up of the interim authorities is a significant step towards clarifying the division of responsibilities and power in the north of the country. Beyond local tensions, it is also interesting to note that young Malians have been appointed to important positions (sometimes because they are the only graduates). But this remains a fragile and insufficient step,” he said. Read on