On the occasion of the visit of the German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs to Senegal, Ms. Annalena Baerbock, on July 15 and 16, 2024, a panel discussion was organized in her honor at the Goethe Institut Dakar. The Timbuktu Institute, as a leading regional think tank on peace and security issues, was invited to share its experience on regional stability issues, focusing on the contribution of women and youth in conflict resolution and the preservation of democracy. Yague Samb, Country Director of the Timbuktu Institute Senegal, represented the institute at the event in her capacity as a researcher who has criss-crossed a number of countries in the sub-region, interacting with various women and youth actors in crisis zones. The Country Director focused her presentation first on youth issues, then on women's issues, in relation to the question of regional stability.  

First and foremost, she started from the premise that African youth, contrary to theses that confine them to the straitjacket of “burden” or “demographic bomb”, can represent an opportunity if they are well educated and empowered. But, for the researcher, it cannot be denied that these same young people see themselves as vulnerable to radicalization and violent extremism (VE). Indeed, according to many Sahelian populations, such as those in the Zinder region of Niger, where the institute conducted one of the first perception studies on the issue, young people are tempted by violent extremism because of unemployment (according to 43.5%), social insecurity (42.5%) and dropping out of school (13%). In an effort to map vulnerability factors to these phenomena, the trends observed in Niger were confirmed in the greater Dakar suburbs of Senegal (2016), on the border between Senegal and Mauritania, more specifically in the two Rosso areas bordering the two countries (2018), on the Senegalese-Guinean border, in Vélingara and Labé (2021), and in southeastern Senegal, in the Kédougou and Tambacounda regions (2024).

Studies have shown that radicalization is a multi-factorial phenomenon, and that beyond the ideological dimension, socio-economic frustrations are important factors in the radicalization of young people. In other words, the niches of violent radicalization lie in the intersection of factors of fragility that are incentive factors or structural causes (unemployment, inequality, corruption, etc.), attractive factors or motivations of the individual (desire for adventure, the search for an identity, material motivations, fear of repercussions by EV groups, etc.) and what we call process factors or protectors present in a community. In a forward-looking and preventive approach, the Timbutku Institute has gathered from young people, at least in Senegal, as part of the study on radicalization factors and the perception of terrorism among young people in the greater Dakar suburbs, that the main antidote to radicalism leading to EV is to ensure employment. According to the Timbuktu Institute expert, solutions to the vulnerabilities faced by young people include strengthening socio-economic inclusion policies, correcting the social injustices of which they claim to be victims, and focusing on education, while strengthening this human capital.

His speech went on to emphasize women's involvement in conflict resolution. Indeed, the question of women is closely linked to that of children, in the sense that these two groups are naturally considered to be among the most vulnerable. The example of the internally displaced women of Sénou (Bamako), approached by the Timbuktu Institute researchers in 2017 through the study “Femmes, prévention et lutte contre l'EV au Mali” (Women, prevention and the fight against EV in Mali), is clear enough to justify the complexity of the female situation in this crisis context. Indeed, these women who have experienced the conflict in Northern Mali first-hand, regret their lack of involvement in conflict prevention and resolution initiatives. But, above all, women were at the forefront of the fight against extremism, notably in Afghanistan and Algeria in the 90s, but also in Timbuktu. They are predisposed to detecting the signs of radicalism in young people, as in the case of the displaced women of Sénou, 55.6% of whom said they had already seen cases of radicalized young people in their neighborhood or immediate surroundings. 

However, despite this potential, women continue to face numerous challenges that hinder their socio-economic development. With this in mind, the Timbuktu Institute recently conducted a preliminary study on the obstacles and solutions to the socio-economic inclusion of women in the former G5-Sahel countries. The study is the result of meetings with women entrepreneurs from the region, who reflected on the issue of female entrepreneurship and listed a number of obstacles that stand in their way. 

The most recent meeting was held in Dakar at the end of June 2024, where it emerged that, over and above their resilience, women face countless socio-cultural barriers that limit their access to land, difficulties in accessing financing, challenges in accessing education and training, etc. This raises the question of whether the battle against extremism in all its forms has been won, given the persistence of obstacles to women's socio-economic inclusion. In any case, insists the expert from the Timbuktu Institute, vigilance must be the order of the day, while capitalizing on women's potential, by putting women at the forefront of initiatives to raise awareness of extremism.