#ÁfricaEsNoticia: El Sahel, la otra frontera

In recent years, the Sahara Desert and the geographical area known as the Sahel have become a region of special attention for the European Union (EU) in an attempt to stop migratory flows towards Europe and contain the Jihadist threat in the area.

This information evening is hosted by Casa África at its headquarters as part of its #AfricaEsNoticia programme and is entitled “The Sahel, the other frontier”. It aims to shed light on the previously mentioned problems from a local and regional point of view, while stressing the need to avoid only considering security issues, but instead to contemplate development as an essential strategy in the search for solutions.

The seminar will take place at Casa África, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, on 9 July 2019, at 7:00pm

This is an activity organised by Casa África with the academic programme proposed by experts of the stature of Oriol Puig. The event has received a subsidy from the Secretary General for Defence Policy of the Ministry of Defence.

#ÁfricaEsNoticia “The Sahel, the other border” takes place at a time when it seems that the international military and police intervention, which has been deployed in Mali and the Sahel region since 2013, has not succeeded in reducing the level of violence in the region. Terrorist attacks have increased dramatically in the last 4 years, with local populations being the main victims of growing insecurity. The climate of violence has infected the relationship between different communities, for example, in central Mali and northern Burkina Faso.

The evening’s two panel discussions will seek to delve deeper into the key aspects that make the Sahel currently a region of growing importance for the EU and to raise awareness of security and migration trends in the area. To this end, experts with extensive professional careers and long experience in the study of these issues will be taking part.

#AfricaEsNoticia is a series of talks on African current affairs by Spanish and African experts that invites us to debate, think and get ever closer to Africa. The title also refers to the section of the Casa África website which is updated daily with the main news about Africa. 

Attendance is free of charge, but for reasons of seating capacity, prior registration is requested by sending an email to medios@casafrica.es

SPEAKERS:

• SERGIO ALTUNA, research associate in the Global Terrorism Programme of the Elcano Royal Institute. In addition, since 2010 he has been working as an international consultant on forward planning and security between the Sahel and North Africa. At an academic level, he specialises in the study of rhetoric and the conditioning factors of Jihadist narrative.
• ORIOL PUIG, researcher GESA and GEA. Journalist with a doctorate in Social Anthropology from the University of Barcelona, specialist in international migrations to Europe and across the Sahara. Responsible for the project “The Sahara, a desert in movement”, on the impact of the policies of externalisation of borders in the Sahel.
• DAGAUH KOMENAN, historian and PhD candidate from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, specialist in the Sahel. Masters in Hispano-African Relations with final dissertation on the Spanish intervention in Mali.