The 4th Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum – organised by the Lake Chad Basin Commission in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – will take place in N’Djamena, Chad, from tomorrow to Friday this week.

Hosted by the Chad government, the forum will convene the governors of the eight territories in the Lake Chad Basin and their partners to explore opportunities for promoting peace and strengthening regional collaboration.

As a prelude to the forum, Radio Ndarason Internationale gave the floor to its listeners on Monday, July 3, on its weekly programme “Appel Thématique”.

Their main concerns centred on the environment and the preservation of the waters of Lake Chad in the face of global warming.

They also wanted to have a say and be included to ensure the return of peace in the region. One listener said the populations around the lake should be involved in the decisions taken at the forum.

Most of the contributions from listeners focused on the importance of putting in place a plan to plant trees on the mainland and on islands devastated by conflict. Many also called for the “return of displaced persons and refugees”.

According to a United Nations study, Lake Chad has lost 90% of its volume since the 1960s due to overexploitation and climate change.

This had given rise to conflicts between herders and farmers in a region that faced persistent violence from insurgents.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, addressing the humanitarian crisis, said: “There are now 2.3 million displaced people. More than 5 million people are struggling just to get enough to eat and half a million children are suffering from severe malnutrition.”

Listeners of Radio Ndarason emphasised the importance of protecting the environment and putting a stop to the violence to promote development and growth in the region.

Listener Mbodou Abakar called for a project to “plant trees to reduce the effects of climate change on the population of the islands of the lake”.

Abakar Abdoulaye said: “I implore the governors to take resolutions and apply them for the involvement of the civilian population in all peacekeeping actions in the Lake Chad Basin.”

He called on the governors to initiate projects to reforest the province and the islands.

“Lake Chad is shrinking and the reduction in arable land is one of the sources of the problems.”

Abdoulaye Yerima Karal called for “a military offensive against the terrorists by means of a mixed multinational force made up of soldiers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Benin”.

Mahamat Hussein, a loyal RNI listener, defended the idea of ​​setting up advanced military posts in all the islands of Lake Chad and asked for traders who communted between the different countries of the Basin to be escorted by security operatives in motorised canoes and boats.

Most of the listeners focused on the importance of putting in place a plan to rebuild the islands that had been devastated and ravaged by the conflicts so that displaced persons and refugees could return home.

Many called on the population to implore God to facilitate the work of the governors for a rapid return to definitive peace.

The UNDP said that in the past two decades, the Lake Chad Basin had been severely affected by changes in the climate and environmental conditions that had accelerated the shrinking of the lake.

Attacks, mainly by Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), better known as Boko Haram, insurgents had led to massive displacement, the destruction of the social fabric and property, human rights abuses, disrupted public services, limited capacities of government institutions, competition for scarce resources, inter-communal conflict, youth unemployment and restiveness. Emerging challenges such as the conflict between farmers and herders continued to further create tension between communities.

It said the forum would examine options for localised and comprehensive solutions that would address climate security and conflict, as well as interrogate the dynamics between farmers and herders towards long-term sustainable solutions.

Under the overarching theme of “New Opportunities for Peace in a Shifting Security Context”, the forum’s objectives in the region included:

• Enhancing understanding of the emerging security trends and the implications of the ongoing efforts to complete the restoration of state authority;
• Discussing pathways for community reintegration and transitional justice;
• Finding ways to scale up and build partnering for solutions to the situation of forcibly displaced refugees and internally displaced persons;
• Providing options for climate security and natural resource management; and
• Examining the agropastoral, farmer-herder dynamics and implications for community resilience and sustainable peace.

The UNDP said it was hoped that at the end of the forum, stakeholders would agree on a shared understanding of the trajectory of the security situation in the region and proffer different programmatic and policy pathways to long-term stabilisation, peacebuilding and sustainable development.