Author: AGUEH Dossi Sekonou Gloria, President of the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) – Email: admin@rflgd.org
Recognizing the role of youth and women in securing democracy, the African Union has adopted several normative and institutional frameworks that require member states to strengthen the participation of youth and women in democracy, governance and decision-making. These normative frameworks include the Youth Charter adopted in 2006, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990), the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) (2007), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981) and the Constitutive Act of the AU (2002), Agenda 2030, Agenda 2063 and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol. All these instruments engender rights, duties and freedoms that reinforce the meaningful participation of young people and women in matters concerning their well-being, aspirations, democracy, peace, security and governance.
Transformational regional integration requires that the processes of establishing inclusive and sustainable development are anchored in effective, efficient and accountable governance. Such democratic governance requires citizens to become the drivers and owners of their own development. This means deepening identity, unity, integration, solidarity, self-confidence, collective autonomy and shared self-respect, all of which are part of building cohesion and lasting peace.
Let’s not forget that capable, responsive, responsible and democratic communities generate a culture of values and performance-based leadership and structures. Such communities have the requisite legitimacy and authority, leaving less room for social upheaval and rebellion born of discontent, marginalization and exclusion. Women and young people are entitled to participation, freedom, protection, access, safety and security, and to the rights of people with disabilities. Public authorities have a responsibility to create an environment conducive to the development of vulnerable populations, taking into account minimum needs.
But today, the overriding question is: Why have all these priorities been relegated to second place, and why have we witnessed the rise of violent extremism and insecurity in West Africa?
Violent extremism has a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of people, particularly the most vulnerable, especially young people, women and children. This blog sheds light on the areas of intervention that need to be considered for a rapid solution: rule of law and security; demobilization and reintegration; media and technology; community resilience and gender initiatives. Programming in these areas is based on three cross-cutting initiatives: research, policy and advocacy, and capacity-building for national organizations.
A variety of factors intertwine at the transnational level to create the conditions that can trigger and fuel the rise of violent extremism in West Africa. Porous borders facilitate the trafficking of small arms and light weapons, people, drugs and goods vital to extremist groups, blurring the distinction between violent armed groups and transnational criminal networks. Threats associated with acts of violence committed by “domestic” extremists or groups linked to the extreme right sometimes appear to be overlooked and therefore unsupported. The nature of extremism needs to be constantly assessed, the violence in a country and, consequently, the strategies to be deployed in education. National action plans need to be constantly revised, and it is essential to establish an exchange of information on the nature of extremism between local and national levels.
Among the immediate causes of radicalization and violent extremism are the increased perception of relative economic deprivation, the trivialization of extremist narratives (through direct speech, the Internet and media campaigns), easy access to weapons and sources of funding, weak governance and mismanagement of institutions, justice and laws that aggravate levels of radicalization, the absence or weakness of complaints mechanisms at local level, and the reinforcement of a tendency towards despair and vulnerability among young people and women.
Some of the underlying causes of radicalization and violent extremism include increased resonance of radical discourses, predominantly security/law enforcement approaches, “loss” of identity/loss of meaning, legitimacy of traditional structures, ungoverned areas/out of reach of government, growth of unregulated madrasas, lack of awareness of anti-radicalization practices, lack of training of imams and leadership committees, high levels of corruption, unemployment and lack of livelihoods, the widening gap between urban and rural areas, recurring humanitarian/food crises, illicit funding methods, poor management of regional borders, intermingling with transnational crime, lack of regional intelligence coordination, focus on law and order rather than justice, use of prisons as recruiting grounds, “repressive” police reactions, insufficient and ineffective investigations, exclusion from political structures.
Some of the root causes of radicalization and violent extremism include state inefficiency, ineffective governance and poor service delivery, high levels of societal divisions of an ethnic or religious nature, exacerbated by elites and associates with low levels of trust, widespread perceptions of political and economic marginalization, low levels of development/high levels of poverty, geopolitical tensions, feelings of injustice/inequality.
Now is the time to engage in sustainable public dialogue and inclusion among divided communities, to prevent and mitigate the recruitment of violent extremist groups, and to develop a model of participation to help reconcile communities and promote social cohesion, de-radicalization of youth and women.
Our recommendations
- Promote peaceful coexistence among young people, encouraging and increasing the use of dialogue as a means of conflict resolution between university students and their communities by extension.
- Empower young people to reduce their vulnerability and discourage their involvement in violent activities.
- Campaign to strengthen media engagement to promote best practices for youth civic engagement
- Inclusion of political structures in electoral campaigns and collaboration between state and non-state actors to defuse societal crises that have led to the arrest of political opponents.
- Build a sustainable movement through radio and television programs that will be reoriented to resolve crises and promote non-violent communication.
- Increase actions taken by community members, including youth, religious leaders, political and local leaders on peacebuilding and conflict management.
- Build the capacity of youth leaders on interfaith and intercultural approaches to prevent and counter violent extremism and radicalization towards peacebuilding.
- Promote intercultural and inter-religious dialogue between young people and women of different religions, cultures and ethnicities to de-radicalize them and move them towards peace-building and religious/cultural/ethnic diversity.
- Establish functional networks between peacebuilding organizations and other partners using social media platforms; WhatsApp, Facebook etc. to share experiences and best practices.
- Establish functional networks between peacebuilding organizations and other partners using social media platforms; WhatsApp, Facebook etc. to share experiences and best practices.
- Advocate for youth and women to be considered as key players in all peacebuilding efforts in the sub-region.
