Timbuktu Institute, in partnership with the Embassy of Japan in Senegal, held a Seminar on the theme: "Building community resilience to multi-dimensional risks: Lessons learned from the Japanese approach in the Sahel", this Wednesday, October 11. The meeting revisited Japan's experience and cooperation in building community resilience in the Sahel.

Mr. Osamu Izawa, Japan's Ambassador to Senegal, shared some of his country's experience of working with African countries in the field of development.

"Japan has no natural resources, but it is well developed, because we have invested heavily in human resources. Today, there are many African countries that want to develop, some of which have no natural resources. And in Senegal, starting next year, we're going to be producing oil and gas", recalled the Japanese ambassador, who is betting particularly on human resources for Africa's development. A "great experience" that he is keen to share with African countries.

And not only. He also stressed the importance of building resilience in the areas of Family, Education and Community.

For his part, Dr Bakary Sambe emphasized that the meeting addressed the need for a multidimensional approach. "There has been a focus on security in the Sahel, which has not produced the desired results. And today, I think everyone knows that you can't talk about security without development", hence the interest of this Japanese approach in strengthening human capital, but also investment in such strategic areas as "education, strengthening human capital, but also strengthening women's empowerment".

The director of the Timbuktu Institute believes that we have reached a situation "where in some countries of the central Sahel, spending on security has long since supplanted spending on development. This, he says, is "damaging in view of the multidimensional challenges and colossal needs facing these countries today".

To this end, he opts for a holistic approach, "investing a little in the possibilities offered by the community approach, and moving towards an approach linked to human security to have a much more global strategy in the face of all these evils such as terrorism and endemic insecurity in the Sahel".

Source : SENEGO