Sahel

Since 2013, the Cordoba Foundation of Geneva, together with the RPC (Religion, Politics, Conflict) and Sahel desks of the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs Human Security Division, has carried out a number of initiatives focused on religious actors in the Sahel region. These have aimed at peace promotion, the creation of mediation spaces, and capacity building for conflict transformation, and have included research activities as well as five successful platform meetings and training sessions for participants from across the region, which have led to a series of local peace-building initiatives.

Based on its work so far, the Foundation maintains that polarizations and tensions occurring at the intersection of religion and politics and/or involving religiously-inspired political actors are obstacles to inclusive, participative and peaceful societies in the Sahel region. In this context, the proposed project aims to 1) prevent the escalation of violence related to extremist discourses and practices, both by state and non-state actors; 2) promote peaceful coexistence between communities of different ethnic, cultural and religious affiliation; 3) address specific issues related to the exclusion of religious actors; and 4) encourage the development of cross-regional understanding and exchange on issues impacting the promotion of peace in the region.