Promoting Regional Integration, Peace and Security
Over the last decade, the four countries around Lake Chad Basin: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, experienced unprecedented levels of crises, worsened by repeated cases of violence from the Boko Haram terrorist group. These crises have intensified instability, slowed economic growth and caused serious humanitarian concerns in the region. Furthermore, the spread of radicalization especially amongst the youth is an imminent threat to peace, stability, and development. Absolutist ideologies that reject co-existence, tolerance and progress represent an existential threat to these countries. As such, these ideologies have found recruits amongst the youth who believe that the state has failed them and that they are excluded from legitimate political and economic processes from time to time. The crisis has created an urgent humanitarian need for about 10.7 million people in the region. Almost a quarter of these people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or food shortages, largely brought on by Boko Haram’s insurgency. In response to the crisis, LCBC is implementing a Regional Stabilization Strategy (RSS) to address the root causes of the Boko Haram insurgency and put an end to the conflict. Read more on the RSS here.