Development assistance should be priotized over miltia aid in Sahel

Introduction: Prodi wrote a recent report for UN leader Ban Ki-moon which warned that turmoil in the Sahel region will only worsen unless there is a joint effort to boost security and lift the fast-growing population out of poverty. . We as the con believe that development assistance should not be prioritized over military aid because both are needed in the Sahel. Observation 1: Military Aid is needed The current political instability and corruption in the Sahel region of Africa means that any development assistance would not have the full, if any, effect unless it was backed up by military aid. Diana L. Ohlbaum Dec 23, 2013 "Think before casting the first stone against corruption" http://csis.org... A new report from Global Financial Integrity shows that nearly $1 trillion was sapped from the developing [Sahel] world in 2011 through crime, corruption, and tax evasion " a dramatic increase from past years, and more than 10 times the total official development assistance that went in. Observation 2: Official development assistance UN agencies have established many specific-purpose funds. These are too numerous, and arise and disappear too quickly, to be listed in the Directives. The same applies to national non-governmental organizations. What is understood to be "development assistance" for the purpose of debate should be limited to Official development assistance which is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective. www.newyorktimes.com http://www.oecd.org... Our strategy has 3 key themes: " Firstly, that security and development in the Sahel cannot be separated, and that helping these countries achieve security is integral to enabling their economies to grow and poverty to be reduced. " Secondly, that achieving security and development in the Sahel is only possible through closer regional cooperation. " Thirdly, all the states of the region will benefit from considerable capacity building, both in areas of core government activity, including the provision of security and development cooperation. Strategic Lines of Action. The Strategy focuses primarily on the countries most affected by common security challenges: Mali, Mauritania and Niger, while being placed in a larger regional context, reaching towards Chad, the Maghreb and West Africa. The Strategy is articulated around four complementary lines of action: Cont. 1: Ensure Security and Fight against Terrorism: (Put for evidence if you don"t feel like this is worth reading) EU and the US must simultaneously work to instill more efficient methods of preventive diplomacy, conflict prevention, and conflict resolution. Preventive diplomacy will substantially increase the security of the Sahel by providing a channel for peripheral grievances to be heard by the government. With such diplomacy, tensions could be resolved politically without escalating into violence. US and EU intelligence services should better collaborate with their African counterparts, not just reactively but proactively, by identifying and diffusing risks Cont. 2: Drug Trafficking The EU and the US should facilitate the development of regional and national institutions for conflict prevention by providing better resources, training, and technical support. One method to prevent conflict is to eliminate the funding methods of violent groups, which in the Sahel has been through drug trafficking to Europe. With the EU"s vested interests in the Sahel, financing and implementing methods to disrupt and dispel drug trafficking is crucial. As proven by US influence in Chad, "developing conflict mitigation and community stabilization projects" can be valuable in providing methods to prevent conflict. In addition, institutions managing conflict resolution at the national and regional level are necessary. Sub point A: Combatting drug trafficking and piracy in Somali http://www.nytimes.com... July 31, 2013 To combat piracy and trafficking, the international community should work with the F.B.I., Europol and Interpol to take on the land-based criminal networks that control the pirates by disrupting their money flows. Arresting and prosecuting the leaders and financiers of piracy groups could severely disrupt their businesses. Often the ringleaders who operate these gangs reside outside of Somalia and so have escaped prosecution. A concerted international effort must be made to identify the individuals involved, shut down their operations and bring them to justice. Sub point B: high security lowers pirate attacks The number of hijackings has decreased over the past several years"a situation largely attributed to ramped up security in Somalia. (For 2012 there were 50% lower attacks than in 2007). Cont 3: Corruption is a threat to security Arben Kola Cleveland Financial Fraud Examiner "Corruption is a threat to global security" http://www.examiner.com... Corruption is both a cause of poverty, and a barrier to overcoming it. It is one of the most serious obstacles to reducing poverty. Furthermore, corruption threatens domestic and international security and the sustainability of natural resources. The UN understood the implications of corruption in the world economy and security in 2000. The Convention against Corruption approved by the Ad Hoc Committee was adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 58/4 of 31 October 2003 and entered into force in December 14, 2005. However, the developed countries need to commit themselves to fighting corruption in order to be successful against money laundering and terrorist financing. Africa has more than enough military manpower to meet its security needs. The problem is that existing forces are too often corrupt, and ill-trained, rather than to help them. The US can best serve by providing countries with advisory and technical assistance, as well as more international military education and training. Cont 4: MILITARY AID IS NECESSARY TO DEAL WITH THE RECRUITMENT OF CHILD SOLDIERS Ban Ki-Moon, (UN Secretary General), REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE SITUATION IN MALI, Mar. 24, 2013. Information was received by the UN concerning grave violations against children committed by parties in the north, including incidents of recruitment and use of children by armed forces, sexual violence against girls, forced marriages, abductions and attacks on schools and hospitals. Hundreds of children have been recruited by all of the armed groups active in the north, including Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad. Cont 5: Africa's Crumbling Center http://www.nytimes.com... The US, along with the EU, should move quickly to provide the necessary financial support to secure Kenya. At the same time, Africa"s leaders must step up to the plate and provide more support to the African Union. Stabilizing the Central African Republic will require a doubling of the proposed 3,600 Misca troops. Securing the capital will only be a beginning: This mission should also safeguard main roads, starting with the major commercial artery running from Bangui to Garoua-Boula", at the Cameroonian border. This would both stabilize the Central African Republic and reduce the very real threat of violence spreading to its neighbors. The Security Council has a precious opportunity to restore security. Without this, the task of implementing the transitional political road map cannot begin, there will be no reforms, elections expected in early 2016 will be difficult to convene, and the transition may stall and even collapse with only one result: civil war with unspeakable consequences for Africa"s volatile center.