“You cannot pretend to protect someone who does not trust you”

“Improving the trust between the security forces and the population is a key element. You cannot pretend to protect someone who does not trust you,” Christelle Zafiryadis, programme manager and team leader of Sahel at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, said during a virtual senior officials meeting on 8 September. Christelle Zafiryadis spoke about the role of security forces in the protection of populations in the Sahel.    

The meeting focused on ‘responding to humanitarian challenges in a long-term perspective in Central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger’ and was hosted by Denmark, Germany, the European Union, and the United Nations.  
The Danish Institute for Human Rights has worked with security forces in the region since 2001. In her speech Christelle Zafiryadis emphasized the importance of trust building between the security forces and the populations and based on the Institute’s long-term experiences and collaboration with the security forces in the region, she delivered three main messages:

• Security forces need to understand their double mandate – especially their mandate to protect the populations.
• A better dialogue between the security forces and civil society will ensure a better understanding of each other’s mandates.
• The security forces – and especially the army – need more training of their role and mandate to protect the populations.