Report CSO roundtable “Engaging with international security actors on people-centered security in Niger and Burkina Faso”

The event was organized by PAX, represented by the following teams: Protection of Civilians (Utrecht, the Netherlands), Public Affairs (Brussels, Belgium), Strengthening Civil Courage Sahel Program (Ouagadougou and Utrecht). Sixteen (16) representatives of CSOs from Burkina Faso and Niger, active in the domain of peacebuilding and human rights, took part in the event. The purpose of this roundtable was an exchange of views on challenges and opportunities in civil society’s interaction with initiatives of the EU and other international security actors to contribute to peace and stability in the Sahel. Participants were asked to share their experiences with engaging with the EU, and to join an open and frank conversation on the challenges in this interaction.

Improve the engagement between EU and CSOs in the Sahel
The main objectives of this meeting were: 1) Gain better insight into the main challenges to the interaction between Niger and Burkina Faso based CSOs and international actors (focus: EU) and to 2) discuss concrete suggestions as to what the EU and CSOs can do to improve this engagement.

The objectives feed into the development of the Civil Society Engagement Facility, an initiative created by PAX that is in its pilot phase whereby the gap between Sahelian CSOs and the EU is intended to be reduced.