Niamey, Niger- On Friday, October 12, 2018, more than 250 supporters gathered at the Congress Place in Niamey to launch the G5 Sahel Women’s Platform . The platform aims to convene key leaders, stakeholders and champions of women organizations committed to working together to yield positive actions in areas involving women, peace, justice and security throughout Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.  The ceremony was held in the presence of dignitaries such as the Prime Minister of Niger, His Excellency, Brigi Rafini, the U.S. Ambassador in Niger, Mr. Eric P. Whitaker, the Minister of Women's Empowerment and the current President of the platform, Ms. Elback Zeinabou Tari Bako.  Other high-level dignitaries and representatives of international organizations such as the Permanent Secretary of G5 Sahel, Mamane Sambo Sidikou, Representative of the European Union in the Sahel, Mr. Angel Losada Fernandez, UNOWAS Councilor, Agathe Memadouname , U.N. Women Regional Councilor, Mrs. Marie Josée Kandanga, and other Ambassadors and Ministers of the Republic of Niger also attended. In total over 250 participants, ranging from various respected women and civil society organizations representatives, participated.

In his address, U.S. Ambassador Eric Whitaker stated that the platform creates an opportunity to boost greater involvement of women needed to build an environment that supports security, peace and justice in the Sahel region.

Before the launch of the platform, a meeting of experts from the G5 Sahel Women’s Platform was held on October 9-10, 2018 in Niamey.  The experts worked on the structure of the platform, its bylaws, and a Memorandum of Understanding between G5 Sahel and the Platform.

About G5 Sahel Women Platform: The G5 Sahel Women Platform was created to facilitate the integration, and effectively taking into account gender and the specific priorities of women and girls, in order to contribute to stability and development in the Sahel region. The platform is placed under the supervision of Ministers of the promotion of women and gender of the G5 Sahel member states. The regional coordination is assigned alphabetically to each G5 member state. The post of the Regional Coordinator (currently occupied by Burkina since 2017) is renewed every two (2) years.

The G5 Sahel is an institutional framework for coordination and monitoring of cooperation on security and development policies between Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Niger and the Republic of Chad.

For more information on the Partnership for Peace (USAID / P4P), please contact: Golda Afidegnon, Head of Communication - goldaa@crea-p4p.com