The third international symposium of the Center for Advanced Studies in Defense and Security (CHEDS) opened this Thursday in Dakar. The opening ceremony was presided over by Air Force General (Ret.) Birame Diop, Minister of the Armed Forces, who welcomed the theme "Winning Peace in West Africa: Towards Sovereign Governance of Resources and Borders," chosen for this year.

He described it as a particularly pressing issue that participants would address during two days of work. According to the minister, the aim was to "analyze the conditions and modalities of sovereign governance of resources and borders, as a strategic lever for establishing lasting peace in the Sudan-Sahel region of Africa."

Addressing the audience, General Birame Diop stressed that today, the African space is facing a multitude of challenges linked to security fragilities, demographic pressure, exponential urban growth and the covetousness of resources.

These challenges generate geopolitical tensions. And so, for him, "the question of sovereignty over our resources and our borders is no longer just a matter of preserving territorial integrity, but a major instrument for achieving lasting peace, building trust in the meantime and strengthening national cohesion."

The Minister of the Armed Forces emphasized that today, water, land, energy, as well as migration and trade flows, can fuel rivalries and tensions. However, if managed "with foresight, fairness, and responsibility, they become levers for cooperation, integration, and shared prosperity," he said.

He will tell the audience that our borders should no longer be seen as lines of separation, but rather as bridges of solidarity. And our strategic resources, too, must no longer be objects of covetousness or conflict. "They must become the foundation of our sovereignty and stability," he says.

For this edition, participants come from Burkina Faso, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, France, Switzerland, and other countries. Discussions will focus on important issues such as hydrodipomy in the service of peace, land governance and urban security, digital sovereignty, demographic dynamics, and more.

“The scope of these issues, the extent of the difficulties to be overcome, give full meaning to the choice of the different themes of this edition. We will try to reflect, in a specific way, on hydro diplomacy in the service of peace, on the problems of land governance and the security of urban spaces, on digital sovereignty, on artificial intelligence, on demographic dynamics, on collective security and on the challenges of youth,” said Brigadier General Jean Diémé, Director General of Cheds.