Dakar, 22 November 2023 - The Colloquium on “Security Council Resolution 2601 (2021): the nexus between security, access to education, and governance in the central Sahel and West Africa” concluded today its two-day meeting in Mbour, Senegal.

Organized by the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), in coordination with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), UNICEF, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO, UNWOMEN, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the Global Coalition to Protect Education against Attacks (GCPEA) and Italian Cooperation (COOPI), the conference brought together more than sixty participants, including experts and practitioners in governance, education in emergencies and security, including senior executives from the ministries of education, defense and finance of countries in the region, national and international non-governmental organizations. The objective was to contribute to the acceleration of the implementation of resolution 2601 on the protection of education during conflict.

Around Mr. Leonardo Santos Simao, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, head of UNOWAS, the meeting saw the participation of Ms. Fatou Sow Sarr, Commissioner for Social Affairs and Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Hawa Aw, Executive Secretary of the Liptako Gourma Authority (ALG), Ms. Victoria Sundvor, representing the Government of the Kingdom of Norway, co-sponsor , with Niger, of resolution 2601 (2021), and the virtual participation of Ms. Virginia Gamba, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for children and armed conflict.

For two days, participants deliberated on practical initiatives to adopt and consolidate to ensure the continuity of alternative methods and mechanisms for emergency education within communities grappling with the multiple challenges of insecurity in the sub-region, West Africa and Sahel. Avenues for advocacy with national, regional and international stakeholders have been evaluated in order to meet the demands of emergency education.

The different sessions made it possible to articulate a series of relevant recommendations contained in a final declaration. Participants, among other things, recommended making education a political priority. “Today’s children are tomorrow’s decision-makers and education cannot wait!” » concluded the participants. They therefore recommended ensuring the continuity of education through, among other things, distance learning, the relocation of closed or at-risk schools to safer areas, the establishment of mobile schools which follow the displaced.