Youth As Tactical Agents Of Peacebuilding And Development In The Sahel

Abstract

One of the major lacunas in the field of youth studies is the lack of attention to, and thorough documentation of, the positive contributions of young people, especially in developing societies. The vast bulk of studies are skewed towards the view of youth as enfants terribles, without any attempt to understand and explain tactical ways in which youth have created and continue to create alternative lives for themselves under great adversity. Drawing on case studies from Northern Nigeria (youth as agents of counter-terrorism) and Northern Mali (youth as tactical agents of development), the burden of this article is to identify the multiple challenges facing youth in West Africa’s Sahel region and, especially, to show how Sahelian youth are coping with these everyday challenges in tactical, ingenious and creative ways that underscore both their considerable social agency and their inherent capacity to make telling contributions to peacebuilding and development in their local communities.

Keywords:

• youth
• peacebuilding
• Sahel
• violent conflict
• Northern Nigeria
• Northern Mali

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the support of the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and its Platform, as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Regional Bureau for Africa — RBA). The article benefited from the generous research funding provided by the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The article gained valuable insights from interactions (formal and informal) and focused group discussions with Sahelian youths at the Youth Pre-Forum Consultations to the Third High Level Dialogue on ‘Democracy, Human Rights and Governance in Africa’, organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) in Nairobi, Kenya (15–17 September). The author thanks participants at this Forum for their active participation and insightful comments.

2 The CJTF’s leadership presently reports to the general officer commanding the division.

3 A similar concept duriagem (‘getting by’) can be found among young people in Guinea-Bissau. In Mozambique, young people use the Portuguese expression desenrasca a vida (‘eke out a living’). In Nigeria, youth use the Pidgin expression ‘Body dey inside cloth’ (‘We are surviving’).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Egiegba Agbiboa

DANIEL EGIEGBA AGBIBOA is a doctoral candidate in International Development at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He has published widely in the field of conflict, security and development, with particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa.