UNDP WACA, UNOWAS, and UNISS collaborated to produce the report The Future of Governance: (Re)building Social Cohesion and Public Trust, which examines governance issues in the Sahel from a variety of angles. It highlights the decline of social cohesiveness and public trust as major problems, criticizes the drawbacks of security-focused strategies, and promotes people-centered governance based on both modern innovation and traditional customs.
The report emphasizes weak vertical participation with state institutions but good horizontal cohesion based on Afrobarometer data. It demands quotas, the re-centering of marginalized groups, and the empowerment of traditional leaders and civil society. Development depends on economic governance, which calls for creative solutions and better use of current frameworks.
Justice is seen as the cornerstone of peacebuilding and government, with accountability failures sustaining impunity and threatening stability. The report calls for logical regional responses and mutually agreeable transition plans while denouncing military takeovers and illegitimate power retention.
Digital technologies and youth-led movements are acknowledged as reform catalysts, calling for equitable digital policies and educational change. It is thought to be crucial to revitalize the social contract through better service delivery, decentralization, and inclusive governance. Financial and institutional barriers must be removed for regional cooperation to embrace inclusive regionalism and cross-border ecosystems. In order to restore confidence, promote justice, and create a fair, peaceful, and prosperous Sahel, the report concludes by suggesting a long-term, coordinated plan combining state and non-state actors.
https://www.undp.org/africa/waca/publications/future-governance-sahel