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Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso,
Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon
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Regional Representatives :
Regional Representative : Mohammed AG EWANGAYE, Tuareg, Niger
Deputy Regional Representative : Sada ALBACHIR, Tuareg, Niger
Women's Representative : To Be Announced
Background and Ethnic Overview
In West Africa, indigenous peoples emphasise their historical relationship with the Sahara and their continued adherence to nomadic pastoralist economic and cultural systems and a cultural heritage that predates agriculture in the region.
Groups claiming indigenous status include the Tuareg, Bororo (also called Mbororo and Wodaabe), Tubu (Teda and Daza). The Bororo are part of the larger Peuhl / Fulani language and culture group in West Africa. They are the groups who most adhere to their traditional nomadic culture and identity. Amongst the Tuareg and Tubu peoples there are those who are nomads, and others who live in the oasis, who live in symbiosis with the pastoralists.
The claim for collective rights as indigenous peoples arises from the marginalisation of Saharan nomads, first under colonialism and then later by independent states. The people of the Sahara and its oases are politically dominated by sedentary agricultural peoples living in the South. Other extremely vulnerable groups include the Bassari hunters of Senegal and the Nemadi hunters of Mauritania.
The Ogoni people of the Delta Region of Nigeria also claim an indigenous status in the face of severe environmental disruption caused by oil explorations by Royal Dutch Shell and the subsequent human rights abuses carried out by the previous central government.
Regional Review
From 1991 to 1995, the Saharan region of West Africa was gripped with severe armed civil conflict and extreme human rights abuses. The origins of the conflict can be traced to the policies that exclude nomads from governance and policy making. Other major factors included the vulnerability of nomads during bad drought years, widespread corruption in the government, police and military, as well as ‘racial’ conflict rooted in historic inequities.
Today, there are still unresolved tensions in the region. There has been symbolic representation of nomads in the political systems of several countries, but there has been no serious effort to address the issue of creating substantive democracy that meets the needs of nomads and sedentary peoples, and the ongoing economic marginalisation of the north.
In February 2006, Tunfa Association in co-operation with Mbodscuda, Tin Hinan and the regional advocacy network Tasghalt, hosted a five-day conference for indigenous nomadic peoples of the Sahara and Sahel. (See separate downloadable reports in English and French).
40 community associations from Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, southern Algeria, Chad and northern Cameroon attended the workshop. The conference focussed on the themes of good governance, the Millennium Development Goals, strengthening civil society capacity, and building up regional advocacy alliances and capacity.
In Niger, the end of the armed conflict flared again in 2005. The only Tuareg minister in the government was accused of murder by state officials. This led to renewed tensions north of Agadez, the region where the Tuareg conducted a 6 year rebellion against Niamey in the 1990s. The recent rebel activity carried on for three months but was subdued with substantial American military assistance to the Nigerien army. The United States is providing military support to potentially oil rich countries, including Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Chad. Local governments are using the military resources to deal with internal political issues rather than promoting peace in the region. Activists are concerned about the negative impact that US military assistance is having on the consolidation of democracy in the Saharan states.
For Niger, and neighbouring countries, 2005 was dominated by the drama of the extended drought. Nomadic pastoralists ran out of water for their herds. Government restrictions on the sale of livestock and the poor transport infrastructure meant that both animals and humans were starving. During IPACC’s 2006 mission to northern Niger, many local politicians and nomads complained that international development assistance went to the south where the government has its traditional political strength amongst Hausa, Djerma and Songhai agricultural peoples. Allegedly, much of the food aid was misused and very little got to where it was most needed. Several European signed assistance agreements with the government in Niamey without consulting indigenous peoples or visiting their territories.
In Mali, corruption in the police and military remains a problem for the whole country. It fosters feelings of insecurity and reminds those who were tortured or lost family members during the civil war that they are still vulnerable without secure human rights.
Key issues:- The Saharan and Sahelian congress in Agadez held a special commission on environmental issues (see downloadable report). Concerns included pollution from petrol exploration on the coast of Mauritania, siltation of the Niger River in Mali, open pit uranium mining in Niger, toxic waste dumps in Algeria and other countries, the gas pipeline through Bororo territories in Chad and Cameroon;
- Food aid needs to take into consideration the situation of nomads, access to water and the ability to sell off livestock before starvation settles in. Indications are that the drought will worsen in 2006;
- The military situation in Mali and Niger remains unstable and many nomad civilians are still traumatised by events in the 1990s. The region urgently needs a truth and reconciliation process to face up to past events and build a better future;
- There needs to be international monitoring of the impact of US troops and militarisation in the Sahara
- Urgent attention needs to be given to issues of education access for nomads that does not break transhumant cycles;
- Governments need sensitisation regarding traditional knowledge systems and the economic viability of transhumant pastoralism;
- Nomads in seven countries have organised Tasghalt, a regional advocacy network;
- Tuareg groups have made alliances with less organised nomadic Bororo - Wodaabe and Tubu groups;
- Burkinabe nomad organisation, Tin Hinan, has promoted literacy and human rights training, as well as women’s livelihood projects.
2007 update from IPACC members:
Association Tunfa, COGERAT, ONG GAGE, UNESCO, CTA and IPACC are cooperating on a second Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) to be conducted in the village of Iferouane, the gateway to the Air & Tenere Reserve - a World Heritage Site. The mapping will be conducted by Tuareg people - nomads, traditional leaders, women, youth and nomads. It will be a training opportunity for other Saharan and Sahelian nomadic and oasis dwelling indigenous peoples.
Mr. Aboubakr Babagana became the first Kanuri community representative from Nigeria to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in NYC in May 2007
- Deforestation and climate change continue to be urgent issues for indigenous peoples in West Africa. The destruction of grazing lands, deforestation, drought, access to safe water, destruction of plants and animals, and the displacement of indigenous peoples are all ongoing problems. Another major concern is how to help protect and promote how indigenous peoples pass knowledge from one generation to another. Members of the IPACC Executive Committee met in Bujumbura, Burundi from 16-19 April 2007 to discuss how these problems can be addressed by a marriage between national Environmental policies and recognition and participation of indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems.
West African delegates were concerned about climate changes and increasing drought. They felt that old knowledge of water management in pastoralism and arid area agriculture needs more attention and recognition. The rush to modernisation in agriculture has put aquifers at risk now that the climate is changing.
For full details of the IPACC Executive Committee meeting in Bujumbura see this IPACC article.
- The current situation in West Africa is sensitive. Tuareg, Tubu and other pastoralist indigenous people are dissatisfied by the slow progress in integrating nomadic peoples into governance and decision making in Mali and Niger. The 1996 peace agreements are not well implemented. In Mali (Adrar des Ifoghas) the government and the Tuareg movements reached a ceasefire, but the situation is not stable. The Tuareg have their weapons at their feet. In Niger the war has begun between the pastoralist coalition movement and the government of Niger. On 8 February, Tuareg rebels attacked a military garrison in the Air & Tenere Reserve area. 3 soldiers were killed. The Nigerien democracy movement is calling for fundamental changes in the use of profits arising from uranimium mining. Every action to avoid massive human rights violation by the national armies is welcomed.
Bororo and Tubu communities are also increasingly organised as a civil society. Their primary concerns are the recurring drought and problems of borders and instabilities which threaten their nomadic economy.
For more information please see: the letter submitted by a collective of human rights organisations in Europe to the European Parliament appealing for help with the crisis in the North of Niger; the report from the West African IPACC network on 'Les peuples autochtones de l’espace sahélo-sahariens, le pétrole……. et les Etats Unis d’Amérique et leur terrorisme exporté'; and the Manifesto of the Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice (M.N.J). These documents are in French.
- The French website Temoust is a valuable and up-to-date source of information on the Touareg people.
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