The Clingendael Institute recently hosted a digital training programme on Peace and Security issues in the regions of the Sahel and the Maghreb. Senior and mid-career diplomats from the two regions joined the online training course from their countries or their diplomatic postings in Europe.  The programme was developed to discuss topical issues related to security and stability, to foster relations among the countries involved and to strengthen the knowledge and professional skills of the participants.

Training online

For this online course, held in French, Clingendael Academy welcomed eight participants from six different countries in the regions. It was the first digital course involving the two regions and quite a challenge to organize live sessions with participants connecting at the same time from Bamako, Nouakchott, Algiers, Ndjamena, The Hague or Brussels.

Nonetheless, all the participants actively took part in all sessions of this two-week programme, addressing the sources of instability through discussions with several experts. In a period which saw a coup in Mali, terrorist attacks in Burkina and Niger, as well as protests in Tripoli, this course included topical sessions on security trends, on the political economy of terrorism, on the situation in Libya and on migration issues in the regions. Participants also engaged in interactive webinars aiming at enhancing their communication, scenario planning and negotiation skills. They ended the training course with drafting two scenarios about the security future of the regions, both highlighting the importance of an approach based on the notion of cooperative security.

We can proudly look back on a successful training course, made possible by excellent speakers’ contributions including, but above all the flexibility, interaction, contribution and good humor of the participants.