ECOWAS, Senegal and UNHCR Launch Joint Humanitarian Initiative to Support Refugees

By: Michael Mike

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in collaboration with the Government of Senegal and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has officially launched a cooperation and humanitarian assistance initiative aimed at improving protection, livelihoods and social inclusion for refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons in Senegal.

The launch ceremony, held in Dakar, brought together senior Senegalese government officials, ECOWAS commissioners, UNHCR representatives, development partners and leaders of refugee communities. The initiative marks a major implementation milestone of a project conceived in 2023, at a time when global humanitarian funding is declining and refugee assistance worldwide is under severe strain.

Delivering remarks on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission, officials described the programme as a demonstration of regional solidarity and a reaffirmation of ECOWAS’ commitment to human dignity. They noted that West Africa continues to face complex challenges including conflict, climate change, disasters and economic instability, all of which contribute to forced displacement and increased pressure on host communities.

The ECOWAS-supported intervention, valued at over 500,000 dollars, is designed to provide life-saving assistance while promoting sustainable livelihoods, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence between displaced populations and host communities. According to ECOWAS, the initiative goes beyond emergency relief by investing in long-term stability, national security and development.

Speaking on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers, the Chair of the Committee of Representatives of Refugees in Senegal, Mr. Lambert Koliti, welcomed the agreement as a vital source of hope for displaced families. He said the programme will expand access to education, vocational training, healthcare and social support, enabling refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity and contribute positively to their host communities.

Refugee leaders appealed to ECOWAS to support initiatives led by refugees and to integrate displaced persons into regional training, employment and entrepreneurship programmes. They also called on the Senegalese government to strengthen measures that promote durable solutions, including access to livelihoods and essential services.

In a statement delivered on behalf of UNHCR, the agency commended ECOWAS and Senegal for the strength of the tripartite partnership, describing it as a practical example of responsibility sharing in line with the Global Compact on Refugees. UNHCR emphasized that responses to forced displacement require collective, coordinated and predictable action rather than isolated national efforts.

Senegal was praised for its commitment to refugee protection, including recent legislative reforms that modernize the national asylum system and improve access to rights for refugees and stateless persons. Officials noted that these reforms contribute to broader ECOWAS efforts toward harmonized asylum governance across the region.

Despite ongoing institutional restructuring and funding constraints within the humanitarian sector, speakers expressed confidence that the cooperation framework would help pool resources, strengthen national capacities and deliver targeted support to the most vulnerable populations.

The launch concluded with renewed calls for sustained collaboration among ECOWAS, Senegal, UNHCR, development partners and refugee communities to ensure that no one is left behind, while promoting peace, resilience and regional solidarity across West Africa.

ECOWAS, Senegal and UNHCR Launch Joint Humanitarian Initiative to Support Refugees

Plateau communities on high alert as fresh cattle killings escalate in Riyom LGA

By: Zagazola Makama

Pastoralists in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State are on edge following a fresh wave of unprovoked attacks on livestock that threaten livelihoods and heighten tensions between residents and herders.

According to a statement issued by Abdullahi Yusuf, a Fulani community representative in Riyom, on Feb. 2, 2026, one cow was shot dead at Weren Camp, while three other cows were poisoned in Kwi Village during the afternoon hours.

Preliminary reports indicate that the poisoned cattle ingested toxic substances deliberately hidden inside oranges placed in grazing areas, a method that experts describe as “malicious and targeted.”

Yusuf condemned the attacks as “criminal, unacceptable, and a serious threat to peaceful coexistence” among pastoral communities in Riyom.

He called on relevant security agencies to investigate the incidents, identify the perpetrators, and bring them to justice. The community representative also appealed to the Plateau State Government to adopt proactive measures to prevent further occurrences and protect lives, property, and livestock in the affected areas.

“This latest incident in Kwi Village is not isolated. The community is now becoming notorious for cattle poisoning, with repeated attacks undermining the safety of pastoralists and their families,” the statement noted.

The incidents forms part of a pattern of escalating violence across Plateau, with armed ethnic militias and bandits increasingly targeting both human and animal assets.

A notable flashpoint occurred on Dec. 27, 2025, when five Fulani youths traveling along Bukuru Express Road near Angle D, Jos South LGA, were ambushed by armed militia elements assessed to be Berom. The victims, returning from Kara Cattle Market, sustained critical gunshot injuries and were rushed to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) for emergency medical attention.

Other documented incidents in recent months include: Dec. 12, 2025: Armed elements attacked Nding Community, Fan District, Barkin Ladi LGA, rustling approximately 137 cattle belonging to three herders. Dec. 13, 2025: Cattle rustling in Kukukah Community, Jos East LGA, resulted in the theft of 34 cows. Less than 24 hours later, nine cows reportedly died after ingesting poisonous substances in Kwi Village, Riyom LGA.

Dec. 16, 2025: Armed Fulani bandits attacked an illegal mining site at Tosho Community, Fan District, Barkin Ladi LGA, allegedly to recover stolen cattle. The attack left twelve people dead, three abducted, and several injured.
Dec. 18–19, 2025: Retaliatory attacks followed, including the killing of four children at Dorong Village, Foron District, Barkin Ladi LGA, and further livestock killings in Gero Village, Jos South LGA.

Zagazola has repeatedly warned that these attacks represent a “predictable escalation cycle,” in which cattle rustling, livestock poisoning, and attacks on pastoral settlements precipitate retaliatory strikes against unrelated civilian targets.

Security sources in Plateau State confirmed that the shootings and poisoning incidents are part of a growing pattern of violence targeting pastoral communities to chased them out of Plateau state but the attacks have rather only contributed to an escalating cycle of reprisal violence, including retaliatory raids and clashes between herders and local communities.

“The deliberate attacks on livestock and civilians show a coordinated effort to destabilize Plateau communities and failure to decisively address these threats risks normalizing violence, increasing civilian casualties, and entrenching Plateau state armed militias as de facto security actors.”

Zagazola have documented the escalating violence across Plateau but the plateau state governments have largely been “looking the other way,” allowing reprisal cycles to continue unabated. The repeated attacks and retaliations draw attention to the urgent need for a robust and coordinated response to protect lives, livelihoods, and the fragile peace within Plateau State.

We therefore called for urgent joint security measures, including sustained patrols, intelligence-led interdiction of militia cells, and decisive disruption of cattle rustling and poisoning networks to prevent further deterioration of the security situation in Plateau state.

Plateau communities on high alert as fresh cattle killings escalate in Riyom LGA

Emerging World Order and Africa’s Lessons from the Trump Era

By Oumarou Sanou

The post–Cold War international order was never perfect, but it rested on an implicit bargain: economic integration, shared security frameworks, and a rules-based multilateral system that, however asymmetrical, offered predictability. Today, that fragile system is cracking. What we are witnessing is not merely a shift in global power centres; it is a contest for the very architecture that governs the relations between the powerful and the weak.

In Davos earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech that resonated far beyond Canadian audiences. He warned that the world is experiencing “a rupture, not a transition” in the international order—a rupture driven by great power rivalry, coercive economic instruments, and the abandonment of long-standing norms that underpinned international cooperation. Carney’s admonition was clear: “If we are not at the table, we are on the menu.”

Carney’s words are particularly relevant in light of the behaviour of the United States under President Donald Trump. Whether it was threats of acquisition or control over Greenland, aggressive tariff wars, or overt economic coercion against traditional allies like Canada, Trump’s actions revealed a willingness to privilege raw national interests over collective stability and legal norms.

Trump’s repeated threats to Greenland—suggesting the United States might pursue control of the territory and even floating military options—were not only alarming in themselves but illustrative of a broader willingness to subordinate sovereignty to strategic ambition. When such rhetoric comes from a self-described champion of “America First,” it sends a sobering message: might still make right in the world, even among countries that claim to champion democracy and the rule of law.

Meanwhile, revelations that officials from Washington held private meetings with Alberta separatist activists in Canada stirred fears of foreign interference in a neighbour’s internal affairs. Critics in Ottawa denounced these contacts as a breach of Canadian sovereignty. Such actions, whether driven by geopolitical opportunism or domestic political theatre, further illustrate the weakening of mutual respect that once characterised Western alliances.

Yet it is not only Western allies who have felt the tremors of this shifting order. Trump’s use of tariffs as negotiation tools—far beyond strategic trade leverage, extending toward punitive measures against Canada, Mexico, and other trading partners—underscored a willingness to weaponise economic integration itself. The result: fractured alliances, defensive economic posturing in Europe and Asia, and a deterioration of trust that had anchored global cooperation for decades.

For Africa, these developments are not abstract. They serve as both a warning and a lesson.

First, the era of assuming predictable behaviour from great powers—whether the United States, Europe, or others—is over. If a democracy like the US can threaten tariffs or territorial ambitions without significant institutional pushback, what then for African states facing far more powerful neighbours or external influences? Africa must understand that in a multipolar scramble, goodwill will not protect it. Sovereignty must be backed by strategy and diversified partnerships.

Secondly, the Trump era illustrates the limits of aligning too closely with any one power. African nations have long faced pressure to choose between Western influence and alternative models—whether from Russia, China, or other actors. What Africa needs, as Carney suggested for middle powers, is “cooperation without subordination”: strategic alignment that preserves autonomy rather than replacing one patron with another.

This is where many pseudo-pan-African narratives fall short. They paint Africa’s choices as binary—either anti-Western or pro-Russian/Chinese. Such framing is simplistic and dangerous. Africa’s challenge is not to replace one hegemon with another, but to craft an independent strategy rooted in its own developmental priorities, not the geopolitical interests of outsiders.

Africa also faces internal vulnerabilities that external actors can exploit. Just as the alleged Trump Administration’s interactions with Canadian separatists raised fears of meddling in domestic cohesion, many African states grapple with separatist movements, ethnic tensions, and governance deficits. These internal fractures could be manipulated by external powers seeking influence–be it the US, Russia, China, EU and the others. Nigeria’s own experience with separatist agitation, for example, could invite unwelcome foreign interest if not managed within a strong governance framework.

The Trump era also underscores the importance of resilience in global institutions. Carney’s critique of the “rules-based order” highlighted how powerful states can weaken norms and leverage economic integration as coercion rather than cooperation. For Africa, which relies on international norms for trade, security, and diplomacy, this erosion is dangerous. It means engaging not only in bilateral relationships but also strengthening regional architecture—from the African Union to ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—to buffer external shocks and present collective leverage.

Moreover, Africa must invest in economic self-reliance and intra-continental cooperation. Reliance on distant powers for security, investment, or economic growth leaves African states vulnerable to external shocks and policy whims. Strengthening intra-African trade, harmonising regulations, and building joint capacities in critical sectors can provide a foundation from which African states negotiate rather than capitulate.

Finally, the African diplomatic corps must be modernised. Africa needs representation that not only attends global summits but actively shapes narratives and defends African interests. Just as Western powers deploy elaborate strategic communication and lobbying capabilities, African states must professionalise their diplomatic engagements to protect sovereignty and influence outcomes.

The emerging world order is marked by competition, not cooperation. This reality will not change simply by wishing it so. Africa’s response must be pragmatic, strategic, and rooted in its own interests—not in reaction to external pressures but in pursuit of its own vision of prosperity, stability, and sovereign self-determination.

Oumarou Sanou is a social critic, Pan-African observer and researcher focusing on governance, security, and political transitions in the Sahel. He writes on geopolitics, regional stability, and African leadership dynamics. Contact: sanououmarou386@gmail.com

Emerging World Order and Africa’s Lessons from the Trump Era

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