Three West African universities on Thursday, January 28, 2021 in Bamako, Mali, launched a project dubbed: “Climate change, security and rule of law in the Sahel: Optimising the contribution of universities”.
The project was initiated in October at the University of Legal and Political Sciences of Bamako (USJPB), Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger.
The launch was under the chairmanship of the Malian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Prof. Amadou Keïta.
The project aims to build capacities to optimise their contributions to the development of community resilience to climate change, insecurity and governance issues.
The project, which will end in December, also aims to strengthen higher education and scientific research institutions to better understand the interactions between climate change, conflict, security issues and the rule of law, among others, through regional and international collaboration.
The project, which will mobilise 656 million CFA Franc, is co-financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Netherlands Organisation for the Internationalisation of Education (NUFFIC) and the three governments hosting the universities.
Speaking at its launch, Prof. Keïta.expressed the wish that the commitment of university leaders to the Sahel University Consortium to the project would be continued and renewed.
“Research is another challenge that requires the mobilisation of human and social sciences,” said Prof. Kéita.
He said stressed that results of university research must inform policy makers, donors and contribute to the international influence of universities.
