His Excellency Macky Sall, President of Senegal warmly received President Danilo Turk with SFG President and Executive Director at his official residence in Dakar recently. President Macky Sall, explained the importance that Senegal attaches to finding cooperative solutions to trans-boundary water issues in West Africa. Such cooperative approaches help not only development of people in the basin but also promote peace and security. President Sall informed the delegation that Senegal now plans to build on its regional experience on water cooperation to promote global awareness to promote water as an instrument of peace.

The importance of regional cooperation and collective security was underlined by leaders from Senegal and Guinea in all the meetings. Mansour Faye, Minister of Water and Sanitation of Senegal and Cheikh Talib Sylla, Minister of Water and Energy of Guinea underscored their commitment to build regional institutions. They informed that the highly successful model of Senegal River Basin Commission was now being replicated to upgrade the Gambia River Basin Commission.

President Danilo Turk and SFG delegation also met with Kabine Komara, High Commissioner of the Senegal River Basin Commission and former Prime Minister of Guinea along with Madine Ba, Secretary General of the Commission and former Minister from Mauretania. They were briefed by department heads of the Commission about forthcoming initiatives which can improve the living conditions of the people , as well as concerns from Climate Change for the rivers in West Africa.

The emphasis on regional cooperation and collective security was evident in discussion with Landing Savane and Prof Seck of the Institute for Pan African Strategies. SFG learnt about proposals for collective security for the African continent, coordination to meet the challenge of violent extremism and a futuristic approach to anticipate and manage pressures on natural resources.

The visiting delegation also met Nana Toure Sy, Regional Coordinator of West and Central Africa of UNDP to discuss issues of collective security and governance. Overall, the awareness of collective action in the management of natural resources, response to violent extremism and promoting collaboration in enhancing the prospects of peace and security were most evident in all the interactions in Dakar.