As part of Geneva Peace Week 2019, FAO, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Réseau Bilital Maroobé, and the Centre of Humanitarian Dialogue held an event titled: Sharing common goods for common benefits: Prevention of conflict over natural resources. Focusing on pastoralism issues in the Sahel region, the event was attended by over 70 participants.

The speakers presented the subject matter under the premise that conflict, disagreements and disputes over access to and usage of natural resources will always exist to some degree, but that understanding the root causes of conflict drivers was key to prevent and resolve them.

H.E. Nathalie Olijslager, Deputy Permanent Representative/Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva, who was moderating the event, emphasized in her introduction that "we often forget about peace and conflict aspects” in the development process and that often resulted in difficulties down the line.

Mr. Julius Jackson, Technical Officer (Protracted Crises) from FAO in Rome, highlighted the fact that natural resources – land, water, access to pasture – management is at the core of FAO’s mandate, and are frequently the source of conflicts. Local conflicts are often rooted in structural issues such as marginalization and underdevelopment, particularly in rural areas, as well as in competition over natural resources like land and water, which are the foundation of rural livelihoods.  Mr Jackson also said that: “We need livelihood support activities that address the root causes of conflicts and that promote re-engagement in productive economic activities”.

Mr. Boureima Dodo, Permanent Secretary of the Réseau Bilital Maroobé in Niamey, recalled that: “The main source of conflict stems from the marginalization of breeders and herders. We need to understand that economic issues and the breach of these people’s rights are fundamental to these problems“. He informed the audience that RBM is developing social contracts which bring opposing groups together as part of an integrated solution towards peace. Yet, there is still need to strengthen the institutional capacities to avoid the emerge or re-occurrence of conflict.

Ms Soline Aubé, of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, emphasized the importance of working to prevent, mitigate and resolve armed conflict through dialogue and mediation. She said that: “we need to focus on rebuilding trust between communities at a local level to make resolutions more sustainable”.

Several participants took the floor from the audience to make comments, ask questions to the speakers and share personal experiences about the situation of pastoralism, conflict and natural resources management in the Sahel.