Credit: U.S. Department of State /  Dr. J. Peter Pham is the United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa.

By Gary Raynaldo         DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

“At the heart of the crisis in the Sahel, I believe, it’s ultimately a crisis of the state’s legitimacy,” declared Dr. J. Peter Pham, U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa.  Ambassador Pham made the observation during a virtual Ground Truth Briefing hosted Thursday by The Wilson Center Africa Program titled:   “U.S. Interests and Engagement in the Sahel: Current State, Key Issues, and the Way Ahead”.   Secretary of State Michael Pompeo appointed Pham  in March 2020  as the first-ever U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel region of Africa to maximize American diplomatic efforts in support of stability amid an unprecedented surge in terror attacks. The region has descended into chaos amid terror and ethnic attacks and, most recently, a military coup in West Africa nation Mali. Add into that mix the COVID-19 pandemic and it is a perfect storm that  threatens to destabilize the entire Sahel region that stretches from Senegal on the Atlantic coast, through parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan to Eritrea on the Red Sea coast.  

Pham announced  The U.S. is contributing nearly $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the troubled region. 

Pham provided an update on the current U.S. interests and engagement in the Sahel, gave insights into the key issues facing the region and what the U.S. is doing to address them, and what he sees as the way forward for addressing insecurity in the region. In explaining that the heart of the crisis in the  Sahel is a crisis of the state’s legitimacy, Pham stated that it means, whether or not citizens perceive that their government is legitimate, equitable, and able and willing to meet their needs.  Pham said this includes  ensuring justice and accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed by security forces.  “Without such a commitment, no degree of international engagement is likely to succeed. If states, especially security forces, continue to commit human rights violations or abuses it undermines their credibility with their own citizens and thus undermines their ability to counter violent extremism.”

More Than 2.5 Million People in The Sahel Region are Displaced

Sahel region  stretches from Senegal on the Atlantic coast, through parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan to Eritrea on the Red Sea coast. 

U.S. government is contributing nearly $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance

“More than 2.5 million people in the Sahel region are displaced, 3.3 [million] are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection services, and the United States is proud to be the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the region,” Pham said, noting the U.S. is contributing nearly $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the region.  Niger is being hit with historic flooding that has left 330,000 homeless.   “None of this humanitarian assistance will go to the de facto authorities in Mali” – Pham said, referring to the military junta controlling Mali after the  Coup.   

Pham said the  U.S. condemns the August military coup that forced Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta out of power.      “The U.S. will help Mali return to constitutional rule,”  Pham said.  The U.S. envoy also noted that the African continent is made up of diverse states with unique regions facing various levels of threats from extremists.

“Africa is 55 states, each different with its own regions, with its own nuances, so everything is always going to be different. Some things are similar, that is the nature of things, but I would say probably the greatest difference, other than meteorological, is probably the level of the extremist threat. It is growing, certainly in the Great Lakes Region… Thank God it’s not at the level it is in the Sahel, with both Al Qaeda and Daesh-affiliated groups running amuck around the region. So I would say that would be the biggest challenge that is different between the two region.”

Dr. J. Peter Pham, U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa.

Pham Applauds NIGER  President Issoufou For Planning To Step Down 

H.E. Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of Niger speaking at the UNCTAD XIII Opening Ceremony (Wikipedia Commons) 

Pham announced the additional U.S.  aid package following a trip to West Africa, where he visited Mauritania and Niger

“I would applaud President Issoufou for the fact that he is planning on stepping down—there is an open seat to be filled next year—bucking the trend of third-termism or prolonging his days and [respecting] the constitutional limits and move on. When that occurs in Niger, it’s going to be the first ever in the country’s history of an elected president ceding power to whoever is elected his successor. That’s a historic moment in the country’s history and it’s a good characteristic to be encouraged.”  -U.S. Sahel Envoy Pham 

Niger President  Issoufou has stated that  after his second term in office is complete this year, he will step aside to make way for a peaceful transition of power. 

The purpose of Pham’s visit to Niger and Mauritania earlier this month was to  coordinate with and demonstrate U.S. support for African-led initiatives to fight extremism and enhance security and governance in the region, including G5 Sahel and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) efforts for a timely, civilian-led transition to constitutional order in Mali.  Also, Pham this month traveled to  France and met with French officials to discuss events in Mali and ways to advance support of regional efforts to address the drivers of insecurity, contain the spread of violence, and stabilize the region.  Special Envoy Pham is responsible for coordinating America’s engagement with international and regional partners, including the G5 Sahel and ECOWAS member states, to address the threat from Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs) and prevent the VEO threat from impacting additional areas, as well as supporting the implementation of the Algiers Accord and regional efforts to stabilize the tri-border region of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

Top  U.S. Diplomat To  Africa  Tibor Nagy Says Sahel Crisis Requires Special Envoy

Credit:  Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times  /  U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy  at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. March 3, 2020 speaks on progress in  U.S. – Africa Policy.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs  Tibor Nagy said the ongoing bloody crisis in the Sahel  warrants more diplomatic engagement on the  part of the  U.S. at the time Pham was appointed Special Envoy to the region in March 2020. At that time, the  top UN official in West Africa and the Sahel  described a devastating, “unprecedented” surge in terrorist violence across the region. The UNOWAS chief elaborated on terrorist-attack casualties in Burkina Faso Mali and Niger, which have leapt five-fold since 2016 – with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019 alone as compared to some 770 three years earlier.  Ambassador Nagy said the situation in the Sahel is getting worse by the day.

“There are certain situations that are so complicated and require so much coordination that a special envoy makes sense.  The activities of Violent Extremist Organizations, or VEOs, are spreading from the Sahel, to Burkina Faso.  They are threatening coastal states such as Togo, Guinea, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, and Senegal”.

-Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy 

Special Envoy Pham previously served from 2018 to 2020 as U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Prior to his appointment to the State Department, Dr. Pham was Vice President and Director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. He was previously Senior Vice President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and Editor of its bimonthly journal, American Foreign Policy Interests. He was also a tenured Associate Professor of justice studies, political science, and Africana studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was also Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Dr. Pham is the author of more than 300 essays and reviews and the author, editor, or translator of over a dozen books, primarily on African history, politics, and economics. Dr. Pham holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from the Gregorian University, as well as postgraduate degrees in history, law, international relations, and theology.