[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE U.S. POLICY IN THE SAHEL REGION
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
November 14, 2019
__________
Serial No. 116-78
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov,
or http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
38-457 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York, Chairman
BRAD SHERMAN, California MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York Member
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida JOE WILSON, South Carolina
KAREN BASS, California SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts TED S. YOHO, Florida
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
AMI BERA, California LEE ZELDIN, New York
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
DINA TITUS, Nevada ANN WAGNER, Missouri
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York BRIAN MAST, Florida
TED LIEU, California FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
DEAN PHILLPS, Minnesota JOHN CURTIS, Utah
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota KEN BUCK, Colorado
COLIN ALLRED, Texas RON WRIGHT, Texas
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania GREG PENCE, Indiana
TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey STEVE WATKINS, Kansas
DAVID TRONE, Maryland MIKE GUEST, Mississippi
JIM COSTA, California
JUAN VARGAS, California
VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas
Jason Steinbaum, Staff Director
Brandon Shields, Republican Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
KAREN BASS, California, Chair
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey,
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota Ranking Member
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania RON WRIGHT, Texas
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
C O N T E N T S
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Page
CONFLICT ARMAMENT RESEARCH GROUP
Report submitted for the record from the Conflict Armament
Research Group entitled Investigating Cross-Border Weapons
Transfers...................................................... 4
WITNESSES
Baird, Whitney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for West Africa and
Security Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs, United States
Department of State............................................ 57
Anderson, Cheryl, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for
Africa, United States Agency for International Development..... 63
APPENDIX
Hearing Notice................................................... 85
Hearing Minutes.................................................. 86
Hearing Attendance............................................... 87
THE U.S. POLICY IN THE SAHEL REGION
Thursday, November 14, 2019
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International
Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Karen Bass
[chairwoman of the subcommittee] presiding.
Ms. Bass. This hearing for the Subcommittee on Africa will
come to order.
I would note that a quorum is not present, but I am sure it
will be soon.
The subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on U.S.
policy in the Sahel region. This afternoon we are here to
discuss the fragile state of the Sahel and the short-and long-
term options for peace and stability in the region.
Without objection, all members have 5 days to submit
statements, questions, and other materials for the record,
subject to the length limitation in the rules.
I would like to thank our witnesses for coming today to
speak with us about the U.S. policy in the Sahel region. I
recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening
statement.
I have been concerned about the Sahel region for some time,
mostly because of the ongoing and increasing violence and what
I previously thought was an expanding U.S. military presence in
the region. What I am most concerned about was making sure that
we were balancing diplomacy and development with the U.S.
defense engagement.
Over the past decade, many countries in the Sahel region
have experienced unanticipated political transitions caused by
local dissatisfaction with political elites in worsening
governing conditions. AQIM and Boko Haram have since
capitalized on the region's political instability and
reportedly merged with locally based and rural extremist groups
in Mali and Burkina Faso.
The expanding network of transnational terror groups has
led to a proliferation of violent incidents between 2016 and
2018. Within the region, Mali and Burkina Faso appear to be the
epicenters of conflict. After a military coup in 2012, and a
popular uprising in 2014, both countries are grappling with
Islamic insurgencies that threaten State and regional security.
Some may think the Sahel may not have direct implications for
U.S. national security because most of the armed groups in the
region often target locally or regionally.
I also want to acknowledge the four brave soldiers who were
ambushed and killed in an advise-and-assist mission in Tongo
Tongo in western Niger on October 4, 2017. Violent extremism in
the region is escalating at a disturbing rate, but the majority
of the actors do not seem to be ideologically motivated, and we
would certainly like to hear your opinions about that.
They seem to be drawn in because of governance challenges,
including political exclusion or abuse by State actors,
widespread poverty, marginalization along ethnic or regional
lines, and tensions between farmer and herder communities over
land or water.
I raise this because we know that defense and security
assistance cannot address the issues emerging out of the Sahel.
We have to focus on the root causes, and we know that
development is one of the areas that need to be addressed. But
with that said, the increased attacks are real. So several
weeks back, I led a codel focused on U.S. military engagement
across Africa, and we traveled to parts of the Sahel to gain a
better understanding of our military assistance in the region.
I spoke with many heads of State, foreign ministers, our
own Ambassadors, and military personnel, and security was never
far from their minds. U.S. personnel and locally employed staff
in the region are operating under very difficult circumstances,
but I was always impressed by their hard work and their
dedication for their jobs.
I look forward to hearing from the witnesses about the
safety and security of U.S. Government personnel in the region,
and members of the codel also heard that there are in some
countries numerous positions that are unfilled within the
embassies, and so leaving them short-staffed and them feeling
like they really were not able to address the conditions that
they confronted, the reasons why they were there, and would
love to hear your thoughts on that as well.
So I believe in order to combat the spread of terrorism in
the region, the international community should support the
efforts of the G5 Sahel force, which consists of troops from
Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger by helping to
train soldiers and assisting in funding operations, so that the
troops are coming from those countries as opposed to outside.
I also believe that the long-term solution is to develop
the infrastructure, including access to water,
telecommunication, energy, and roads. This will help
socioeconomic development and reveal tangible results of a
healthier, more educated, food secure, and safer society.
Members of Congress on both sides want to see extreme
violence in the Sahel decrease, and we are here to listen and
to see how you might provide us insights and recommendations as
to how we move forward.
I now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I want to
thank you, Chairwoman Bass, for convening this extremely
important hearing this afternoon. We, as a subcommittee, last
focused on the Sahel as a region in May 2013, though we have
addressed fragility in specific States and discrete issues such
as food insecurity in the region.
Many of the same threats we dealt with at that time, such
as Islamic insurgencies, have grown even greater, so today's
hearing is especially timely. Our policy interest in the Sahel
encompass counterterrorism concerns as well as humanitarian
ones, and it is impossible to address one without addressing
the other. Without security, you will see a continuing amount,
large amounts of human suffering. And without addressing
security, we have got to be sure that it is secure and the
humanitarian work can be done.
The reasons for instability in the region are multiple,
from failures of governance to Islamic radicalization, from
environmental degradation to ethnic conflict, nor can we
minimize the consequences of our disastrous intervention in
Libya in 2011, which, among other things, led to the influx of
arms into the region from the arsenal of former Libyan
strongman Colonel Gaddafi following his overthrow and the chaos
that ensued.
There is a very comprehensive report, Madam Chair, from the
Conflict Armament Research Group entitled Investigating Cross-
Border Weapons Transfers in the Sahel from November 2016, and I
would ask if it could be made a part of the record.
Ms. Bass. Without objection.
[The information referred to follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Smith. I appreciate that. This report details how ``The
demise of the Gaddafi regime in mid-2011 following the
emergence of armed opposition in a NATO-led multinational
intervention released large parts of the national stockpile
from government control.''
The report goes on to state how ``The proliferation of
weapons from Gaddafi era stockpiles fueled the 2012 Tuareg and
Islamic insurgencies in Mali and has allowed armed actors
operating throughout the Sahel region, including in Chad and
Niger, and possibly in the Central African Republic and Cote
d'Ivoire, to acquire weapons including small arms and man-
portable air defense systems, or MANPADS.''
The report also notes how large numbers of Tuareg fighters
who have been recruited into Gaddafi's Islamic Legion, the Mag
Oer Brigade, and other parts of the Libyan army, left for Mali
and Niger in 2011, and that is just the portion of the report
dealing with the Sahel.
A tremendous amount of arms also found their way into Syria
and into the hands of ISIS fighters, who carved out their
channel house caliphate around Raqqa. The collapse of Libya
into civil war also fractured its oil-based economy, which in
turn led to a drying-up of economic opportunity for young men
from the nations--and women--of the Sahel.
Thus, we think we need to confront the fact that while many
of the problems in the region are endemic, our policy failures
and misbegotten adventurism in 2011 helped fuel the crisis
which you must address today. A regional multi-disciplinary
approach to this crisis is necessary. Of course, there is a
military aspect to our engagement in the region.
The deaths, as you pointed out, Madam Chair, of the four
American soldiers in 2017 near the village of Tongo Tongo at
the hands of a group which has declared an affiliation with the
Islamic State and the Islamic State of Greater Sahara
underscores the sacrifices that are being made to counter
terrorism.
I understand that efforts were made to get Defense
Department participation in today's hearing, but they asserted
jurisdictional issues, and that prevented it. Thus, I look
forward to the State Department briefing us on our
counterterrorism efforts, in addition to overall efforts of
bringing stability to the region, so I do look forward to their
expert witness. And I yield back.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Smith.
I would now like to introduce our witnesses. Whitney Baird
assumed duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for West
Africa and Security Affairs in September 2018. Previously, she
served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Europe
and European Union and Regional Affairs in the European Bureau.
She was Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S.
Embassy in London from 2014 to 2017. In addition to a number of
positions in DC, she has also served overseas in Spain,
Senegal, Togo, Canada, and Cameroon.
Our second witness, Cheryl Anderson, is the Deputy
Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Africa, where she has
been responsible for West Africa and development planning.
Before that, she served as Acting Assistant Administrator for
Africa.
Ms. Anderson joined USAID as a foreign service officer in
1988 and has extensive field experience. She served as the
USAID Mission Director for south and southern Africa, Ghana,
and East Africa, and as Deputy Mission Director for East
Africa.
Before that, her overseas assignments included Sudan,
eastern and southern African regional, Uganda, and the DRC. She
began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana. We thank
you both for your service. We have several Members of Congress
that were also Peace Corps members.
Ms. Baird? Let me mention that we do have your full
testimony, and so we would like for you to speak for 5 minutes.
And I believe you can see that. When the light turns yellow,
you have a minute. When it turns red, time is up. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF WHITNEY BAIRD, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WEST
AFRICA AND SECURITY AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ms. Baird. Perfect. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Bass,
Ranking Member Smith, and members of the subcommittee. It is a
pleasure to be here today to discuss the complex challenges in
the Sahel and our approach to them.
First, I want to thank you for the interest and support we
receive from Congress and from this subcommittee. Your
willingness to visit the region and engage directly with the
men and women at our embassies across Africa is greatly
appreciated.
The rapidly spreading instability in the Sahel threatens
U.S. national security and undermines our diplomatic goals. It
enables the spread of terrorism, stifles economic growth, and
thwarts democratic institutions. We are focused on three lines
of effort--greater coordination with international and regional
partners, bolstering State legitimacy in the region, and
implementing the Algiers Accord in Mali.
Despite our efforts, the situation the Sahel continues to
deteriorate. In Mali, signatories of the Algiers Peace Accord
underperform on efforts to implement it. Terrorist groups
exploit intercommunal attentions to further undercut tenuous
government presence. And yet the government has largely failed
to take the steps needed to reestablish State legitimacy and
address insecurity.
We engage at every level with the Malian government, with
its neighbors and international partners, to encourage progress
and to hold bad actors accountable. Burkina Faso faces its own
terrorist threat, compounded by cross-border incursions from
neighboring violent extremists, but its ability to respond is
limited. We employ diplomatic defense and development
initiatives to help respond to the crisis and prevent violence
and insecurity from spreading further.
On the other hand, Niger has managed to prevent extensive
terrorist incursions in spite of instability on four borders.
Niger is a good partner in a bad neighborhood. However, the
security response we think is unsustainable. Niger is spending
close to 25 percent of its budget on security, and that really
precludes its investing in its people's needs.
We focus on coordinating with partners and shoring up State
legitimacy. We are also aware of the possibility that
instability could take root in the coastal States, directly
threatening the heart of U.S. economic interest in the region.
We are exploring ways to help these countries develop
accountable, stable security institutions, and promote human
rights and good governance.
We approach this litany of challenges through a
comprehensive and balanced approach. Security-focused solutions
are necessary but not sufficient in and of themselves.
Development tools help government provide vital services to
their citizens and improve economic opportunities for
populations. Diplomatic engagement encourages good governance,
improves coordination with our partners and other donors, and
advances cornerstone objectives, such as implementing the
Algiers Accord.
Our embassies maintain robust dialog with civil society
organizations that play a crucial role in stabilizing the
region and holding governments accountable. Our African
partners also play a vital role, and the Sahelian countries
have exercised greater leadership in addressing their fragility
and security challenges.
For example, as you had mentioned, the G5 Sahel takes a
holistic approach to security, and the coastal States have
launched the Accra Initiative to improve security coordination
and information-sharing in their military and security
services. We also appreciate the increased role played by
ECOWAS in coordinating the broader region's response to the
crisis.
Thank you again for the opportunity, and I look forward to
answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Baird follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Bass. Wonderful.
Ms. Anderson.
STATEMENT OF CHERYL ANDERSON, DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR,
BUREAU FOR AFRICA, UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Anderson. Good afternoon, Chair Bass, Ranking Member
Smith. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Sahel and
the rising violence we are seeing there. The dynamics
underpinning violence in the Sahel are caused by a mix of
persistent instability, poverty, deteriorating environmental
conditions, governance challenges, and lack of economic
opportunity, all fertile ground for extremists determined to
advance their ideology.
USAID Administrator Mark Green has emphasized the urgency
of addressing this violence. I appreciate the chance to share
with you what we are going to respond to the crisis, to help
reduce the violence, and to support resilience and eventual
self-reliance.
As you have heard from Deputy Assistant Secretary Baird,
the Sahel is a vast and complex region with rapidly spreading
insecurity. We have seen an increase in violent extremist
activity, intercommunal conflict, and violence related to
criminal networks and other armed groups. Just last week, a
deputy mayor who is also a member of Parliament in Burkina Faso
was assassinated. We were deeply saddened by this news. He was
well-known for his personal commitment to peace and good
governance.
The escalation in violence has increased humanitarian
needs, particularly in the tri-border area of Mali, Burkina
Faso, and Niger. At the same time, the presence of armed groups
along those border areas has limited our humanitarian access.
Population displacements are on the rise with more than 270,000
refugees and more than 900,000 internally displaced people in
those three countries.
The situation is especially worrying in Burkina Faso. When
I visited in March, we were alarmed that the number had just
surpassed 100,000. That number now is close to 500,000. Despite
the enormous security challenges, we are responding to these
humanitarian needs. USAID has provided over $130 million in
humanitarian assistance in the three countries during Fiscal
Year 2019, which includes emergency food aid and health
services.
Such humanitarian assistance is central to USAID's mission.
We will always stand with other countries when a humanitarian
crisis strikes. But we also want to help our partner countries
move toward the day when they no longer need our assistance. In
the Sahel, USAID has developed a strategic vision and will work
with our partners to address priority issues, countering
violent extremism, building citizen responsive governance, and
strengthening resilience.
I would like to give you a few examples. In countering
violent extremism, USAID's Voices for Peace Program features
broadcast radio and video programming on themes of peace,
tolerance, good governance, and human rights, all in local
languages and locally produced in partnership with respected
local leaders and institutions. Voices for Peace generates
positive local narratives and constructive dialogs about
extremism.
One of the results has been an 18 percent jump in listeners
who now feel confident that working in partnership with
security forces can be an effective way to combat violent
extremism. In the area of citizen responsive governance, with
USAID's help, one example is that local governments are now
better able to manage their natural resources and community
conflicts.
Last year, USAID activities strengthened the effectiveness
of almost 900 water user associations in Burkina Faso and
Niger. USAID also supported the development of conflict
mediation, which has helped reduce tensions in the region.
These kinds of activities are critical to building stable, free
societies and decreasing the appeal of extremist ideologies.
Finally, on resilience, in Burkina Faso and Niger, USAID's
resilience program, known as RISE, helps individuals and
communities to better manage crises, feed their families, and
invest in their futures. Over the past 5 years, households and
communities reached by RISE have diversified livelihoods and
rely less on government assistance to cope with shocks. One
measure of success is that participants in RISE agricultural
activities have seen their incomes grow by an average of 45
percent.
While the situation in the Sahel presents a complex set of
challenges, one thing we are sure of is that the situation will
not get better if the United States looks the other way. Left
unaddressed, extremist violence in the region will likely
spread elsewhere affecting security and well-being of U.S.
economic partners and allies. That is why our efforts are
vital.
USAID is expanding our presence in the region, and we thank
you for your support in that effort. We endeavor to leverage
all available resources with our interagency colleagues and
other partners to ensure the most effective and sustainable
solutions to the challenges in the region.
Thank you for your time, your interest, and your
leadership. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and
answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Anderson follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Bass. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
We are now going to begin questions. I will go for 5
minutes, and then refer to my ranking member here.
I really wanted to get a sense from both of you about what
more needs to be done. I mean, I do not doubt that you are
doing everything you can. But from your perspective, what more
needs to be done? And then I also would like to know how we
engage other countries, especially France.
What impressed me about Burkina Faso was the number of
violent attacks have increased several thousand percent since
May, and it was not--you know, and I mentioned the fact that
the embassy is understaffed. And so I wanted to know if you
could comment to that. Does that--look surprised, Ms. Anderson?
Maybe I will not say--maybe let me rephrase that and say that
there are numerous positions unfilled. That, to me, is
understaffed, but say it differently.
Yes, go ahead.
Ms. Baird. Chairwoman Bass, thank you very much. I will
take these on in turn. On what more needs to be done, so if we
look at the situation across the region as a whole, I think
each country, if we look at the G5 Sahel and take each country
is a little bit of a different case, so I will start with Mali,
and then maybe talk about Burkina, and we can go from there.
With Mali, really, I think that there is the question of
both political will and coordination. I think political will is
an internal question for the Malian government in making
continued progress and implementing the Algiers Accord. The
Algiers Accord is the instrument that we have blessed by the
United Nations, and undergirded by MINUSMA, to move forward
really the political stalemate with the three signatory
parties.
And we think it is very important that the government
continue to make progress in meeting the benchmarks, and we
really do believe that renewed political stability in Mali is
one of the things that will help reduce the level of violence
elsewhere in the region.
You know, we have seen also an increase in intercommunal
violence in the center of Mali, although what we have seen is
that the government has taken some efforts to stem that, and it
has had some positive effect. So with intervention by the
government, it can take progress.
What I will say in a greater sense is I think that we have
many donors and many international partners with interests who
are putting assistance of various kinds, whether it is security
development, humanitarian, as well as diplomatic efforts in the
region. What I think we do not need is more. I think what we do
need is better focus and better coordination and better
organization. We are not the only ones who feel this way. It is
clear in our interactions with the French, with the European
Union, and others, that others are feeling this as well. And we
are seeing a convergence, and I am hoping that by doing that
that we will have a better coordinated effort to assist the
Malian government, if the Malian government will show the
political will to move forward, that we can look at what does a
post-MINUSMA Mali look like? What fills that security space----
Ms. Bass. Didn't the French just----
Ms. Baird [continuing]. In an objective way?
Ms. Bass [continuing]. Send in troops?
Ms. Baird. Sorry?
Ms. Bass. Didn't the French just send in troops to Mali?
Ms. Baird. The French had troops there as part of Operation
Burkhane.
Ms. Bass. Yes. But I mean increased.
Ms. Baird. Actually, they have----
Ms. Bass. In the last few weeks, I thought.
Ms. Baird [continuing]. They have more, but they have
shifted a good bit of their focus to Burkina Faso to really
take on the jihadist--the surge in jihadist violence in
Burkina.
At the risk of going over my time, in Burkina, I think it
is providing assistance and helping the Burkinabe organize
their efforts to combat the attacks, I think. And I would pass
to my colleague, I think really in Burkina part of what will
have a long-lasting effect, positive effect, is sort of that--
is that grinding work at a community level to rebuild State
presence and State services to the population. That is the kind
of work that USAID is doing on a community level, and I think
that in Burkina, in the long run, is what will help them push
back on the violence.
Ms. Bass. Go on.
Ms. Baird. Okay. On staffing--actually, I would like to
talk about Niger just briefly because, again, I have noted that
I think Niger has been an excellent partner for us. They have
been quite serious in their work, both to combat the violence
inside their borders, but also to do so in an effective and
accountable way.
The reality for us, again, what more can we do? We continue
to partner with them. We continue to carry out our efforts in
the broader region because they are beset on really every
border. But, again, it is through kind of the community
development and humanitarian assistance that USAID and other
donor partners that allow Niger to deliver the kind of services
to their population that builds State legitimacy, and that is
really important for long-term success.
On staffing, it is absolutely true, if I had a magic wand I
would probably bump up staffing at all of these embassies.
Their workload has increased greatly with, of course, the
increase in violence. We are continually looking at ways to
assist and backfill positions. These are austere operating
environments, even in the best of times. We have people who
unexpectedly have to leave because of medical emergencies and
other issues. That is a fact of working in that part of Africa.
What we do from Washington is try to look for additional TDY
support and ways to ensure, you know, that we can lighten their
load.
Ms. Bass. TDY? Is that what you said?
Ms. Baird. Sorry?
Ms. Bass. TDY?
Ms. Baird. TDY. Sorry. Temporary duty. So try to send
people out, 6, 8 weeks, maybe 2 months, 6 months.
Ms. Bass. So it is not a question of your funding?
Ms. Baird. That would not be a question that I could
actually answer. I would probably defer that to our
Undersecretary for Management.
Ms. Bass. Okay. Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you both for your great testimony and your
leadership. Deeply appreciate it.
Just a few questions. One of them, you know, with 20/20
hindsight, could you tell us briefly what went wrong with Mali?
Because that was back in 2012 before the coup, touted as a
democratic government model or an example.
Second, if you could, you know, religion and ethnicity are
core concerns with respect to questions of identity among
people in the Sahel, and are also factors that fuel conflict.
And I know we always talk about other things, too, but how
would you rate the importance of those two issues--religion and
ethnicity? And what can be done to mitigate that, so there is
greater understanding across those barriers between the two?
If I could, too, as well on the issue of some diseases, and
we know Burkina Faso is among the 10 countries, according to
USAID, with the highest malaria disease burden in the world,
and I am wondering, are we--how is our funding being directed
toward that in Burkina Faso? And what about the other Sahel
countries, how bad off are they, you know, given the
unpredictability of their climate, which very often can lead to
this?
Mali, you know, you have highlighted the Feed the Future
Program there, and of course food insecurity is big everywhere.
But maybe you can spend a little time talking about what our
efforts are. Is there a concern of an approaching drought that
might need some, you know, prior thinking? Which I am sure you
are doing.
Is the first 1,000 days being implemented in these
countries to ensure that both mother and baby are as healthy as
they can be during pregnancy and then up until usually the
second birthday? Of course, after that is important, too. But
as we all know, that is critically important.
Mali is the only country that is in PEPFAR, and I am
wondering if you could just speak to that briefly, and whether
or not other countries are perhaps in the queue to be put into
the PEPFAR Initiative. We did reauthorize it, as you know, last
year. I was the author of that bill. It was totally bipartisan,
and it is authorized for 5 years.
Of course, we always worry about the appropriations side of
it. But if you can speak to--you know, because I think PEPFAR
is one of the greatest successes, just like the Malaria
Initiative, in saving lives and mitigating morbidity among so
many.
Protection of health and humanitarian workers, you know,
the distinguished chairwoman and I, you know, have been talking
over and over with all of the key players in DR Congo and the
threats to the lives of health workers. We know that is always
a problem. How big of a problem is it in the Sahel?
Ms. Baird. Thank you very much. So that is quite a lineup
of questions. I think I will try to take on a bit of the first
two, and then I will pass it to my colleague who has a great
deal more information on the intervention in health and
humanitarian assistance.
With Mali, I think what went wrong, I think that what we
saw was the result of many years of frustration of lack of
State presence. I think for us the Department of State and our
work with countries that we think that it is absolutely crucial
that the State is viewed in general as part of the solution,
not part of the problem, and that they are in fact a State
presence delivering services to their population, if security
services are deemed to be accountable and transparent and
respecting of human rights.
I think that in 2012, in Mali, you saw a breakdown in many
of these and a lack of State presence in large parts of the
country, and an expression of dissatisfaction on parts of the
population, and absolutely as well the spillover effects of the
events in Libya, you know, absolutely.
We can go back and revisit that. I think we are much more
focused at this point now on----
Mr. Smith. Getting past the prologue, the idea is, you
know, what we can learn from----
Ms. Baird. Right.
Mr. Smith [continuing]. All of this sometimes prevents the
next crisis.
Ms. Baird. So I think that you touched on some of the
issues--religion, ethnicity. I think intercommunal competition,
competition for resources, in an area undergoing
desertification, food insecurity, an unequal distribution of
resources, and, again, lack of State presence. For us, in any
of these countries, religion and ethnicity are important. These
are all multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities, and,
again, the best antidote are transparent, accountable, and
democratic institutions.
Ms. Anderson. Thank you very much. You touched on a number
of very important issues. And if I miss any, we will be sure to
get back to you with more details.
Yes. This is a really high-disease burden, so we are
responding with our humanitarian assistance to health issues.
But we are not--we cannot forget the long-term commitment to
building health systems in the Sahel. And that is an important
part of building resilience and building institutions for
eventual self-reliance in those countries.
We have had a long-term commitment in health in Mali, as
you know, but also in Burkina we have a particular emphasis on
malaria. That is the biggest killer of children under 5 is
Malaria now, and we are seeing some good advances, which I saw
when I was on my trip.
Also, we do have PEPFAR activities in Burkina Faso where we
are working toward the 90-90-90 goals of PEPFAR. And as part of
a regional program that we have that is relatively small,
because we are talking about relatively small populations, but
there is a lot in common across a number of the West African
countries on their efforts to get to epidemic control of HIV.
So we are pretty proud of that small program, and we are
seeing pretty good progress there, despite all of the
challenges. On our food security work, and addressing drought,
that is always a central part of what we have been doing. We
have especially important programs in Mali and Niger for Feed
the Future, and we are constantly using whatever technology we
can find to predict what is coming up. But also, our efforts
are very strong on building resilience to whatever next shock
is coming. We know that there are constant shocks from drought
in the Sahel.
I think I have covered most of those questions.
Mr. Smith. And first 1,000 days?
Ms. Anderson. The first 1,000 days, that is also really
important for us, including in the Sahel. I would be happy to
provide some more detail----
Mr. Smith. Thank you. I would appreciate that very much----
Ms. Anderson [continuing]. In writing.
Mr. Smith [continuing]. If you would. Let me just ask you,
if I could--and I thank the gentlelady from California--for
some additional time.
So we can better understand and adjust the problems of the
Sahel, can you give a little more specific--be a little more
specific in addressing the grievances of the Tuareg and the
Fulani? How is that being addressed to try to mitigate, again,
their bouts of violence?
On the issue of Russia and China, what is the footprint of
China these days in the Sahel? We know what they have done in
much of Africa, and have a general sense of what they are doing
there but would love to see your current insights, particularly
with the debt burden that they place on countries, and in many
cases, the fleecing of their natural resources at bargain
basement prices. So if you can speak to that as well.
Ms. Baird. Thank you. So, I mean, further on grievances of
individual communities, I think, again, overall I think that we
do--so I would say we would view with some concern that
competition--I think our view is competition for resources has
pushed a level of intercommunal violence that is creating a
situation where it is easy to and often there is a demonization
of herder communities, certainly the pull of the Falani among
them.
I think from our perspective there is no good to be come
from this. This is an area where there needs to be continued
community building and intervention, both by civil society and
State institutions, to ensure that communities are continually
communicating on how they share resources, share space, and
share economic opportunities.
And I think only with those kinds of interventions and
those kinds of conversations do you get to a long-term solution
to those kinds of grievances. I think there is a reality that
desertification/climate change is creating a situation, along
with demographic pressure, that this competition for resources
is not going to reduce. It is going to increase. So, again, a
State presence that is effective and community organizations,
civil society intervention in building that kind of dialog is
really the only way in the long run to get at those underlying
grievances.
Mr. Smith. Excuse me 1 second. And religious community, are
they playing a vital role?
Ms. Baird. I think it is very important that the religious
community--I think that one of the ways that jihadist
extremists break down community structures is by breaking down
that communication, that role that traditional leaders,
religious leaders, community leaders, play in resolving
community-level conflicts.
And maybe before passing to Russia and China, I will pass
to my colleague, and she may have some intervention as well.
Ms. Anderson. Thanks. I would just briefly say on that
topic that our efforts locally in the Sahel to build peace and
to encourage that kind of dialog are very important in building
that link between the people and their government in addressing
grievances. And I agree that religious communities and, in
fact, any partners on the ground who can play an important
role, we are looking to talk to them and involve them, and that
does include religious communities.
Ms. Baird. One last thing I would say is, as part of those
community conversations, not just broader civil society, but
more specifically engaging with women and women's groups and
ensuring that women are part of those dialogs, and community
interventions, is absolutely crucial. What we do know is, of
course, women and children bear, really, the burden of this
kind of violence, and of the displacement that occurs because
of it.
Just passing very quickly to Russia and China, absolutely,
Russia and China, particularly China present throughout the
region in an economic way, and increasingly I think with some--
with interest in security cooperation with Russia, our sense
generally is its presence has been primarily with an interest
to sell products.
Our view is--with China is that there is a certain caveat
emptor that with each of these governments that they should
examine any and all deals that are offered to them very
carefully, and they should weigh, obviously, the long-term
potential burdens of taking on these deals.
We certainly do not walk in and just say, you know,
everyone else good, China bad, because I think that they are
there and they are competing to give resources. On the other
hand, we view with, I would say, consternation deals that do
tie up critical resources and strategic minerals and other
things, and that we remain in dialog with governments to try to
make sure at least that they feel that they are making informed
decisions.
We do have--you know, we have details on presence, and we
would be happy to get back to you with details on what some of
the----
Mr. Smith. I you could for the record, it would be very,
very helpful.
Ms. Baird. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Because there is not--we look at so many of the
other countries that are being malaffected by Chinese influence
with the ag governance model. We do not have a whole lot on the
Sahel, so that would be great.
Ms. Baird. Okay.
Mr. Smith. Madam Chair, thank you for that very generous
extension of time. I do ask unanimous consent that remarks by
ranking member of the full committee, Michael McCaul, be
entered into the record.
Ms. Bass. Without objection.
[The information referred to follows:]
INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Ms. Bass. One of the things that was noted over and over
again on our visit a month or so ago was that there have been
very few visits by high-level U.S. diplomatic personnel to the
Sahel in recent years. And unlike the EU, the U.S. does not
maintain a high-level diplomatic envoy to the region.
So I wanted to know what your thoughts were about any
changes that should be made to U.S. diplomatic engagement in
the Sahel. Both of you, if you could respond to that.
Ms. Baird. Thank you very much. Since I have been to all of
the countries, I assumed you were saying that my level is not
quite high enough, but I do not disagree. I would say that
Undersecretary of Political Affairs David Hale has taken a
great deal of interest in the Sahel.
And based after his visit, which I accompanied him on to
Niger last February, he actually arranged for us to brief the
Secretary on what we saw as the problem set and what our
engagement could look like, which we did.
Coming out of that, the Undersecretary has also directed us
to go back and relook at our diplomatic engagement strategy for
the Sahel and looking at ways that, (a) he can play a larger
role, and we, the United States, can play a larger role. And we
have been working on that and reviewing that with the
Undersecretary.
As regards the potential for a special envoy on Sahel
issues, I know that many of our European partners do have a
special-hatted envoy. I think that our Assistant Secretary, in
talking to other officials, have taken on that question. And
when there is a decision, you know, I think that there would be
an announcement one way or the other, but it certainly is under
consideration. We are looking at whatever ways are possible to
help influence the situation there in a positive way.
Ms. Bass. Do you think that would be helpful? Is that being
pushed for in the----
Ms. Baird. I think it is a possibility, and I would then
defer to my boss, the Assistant Secretary, for a decision.
Ms. Bass. I am sorry. Say that last part again.
Ms. Baird. So I would say, I would defer to my boss, the
Assistant Secretary, for a decision on that. I think we have
weighed in, but I think I would leave that to him to decide,
and if they made a decision to announce.
Ms. Bass. Ms. Anderson, thoughts?
Ms. Anderson. I would just say, yes, that is an area where
we could do better in terms of high-level visits to the region,
and I would hope that----
Ms. Bass. You know, I mean, I mention that in terms of
diplomatic, but it is also the same thing with congressional as
well. And so one of the things that we are going to really try
to work on is to get more congressional delegations to go as
well.
Ms. Anderson. And maybe there could be a joint visit.
Ms. Bass. Well, there you go. Nice idea. We will propose
that.
Ms. Anderson. I would hope we could have a visit--some
visits in the not-too-distant future. You are always welcome,
and I think it is always a big boost, not only diplomatically
in advancing our agenda, but also to our staff who are working
under, as you know, very difficult circumstances.
Ms. Bass. Well, I always try to, when I travel abroad, pay
particular attention to that because when I go to country team
meetings, to me it is quite visible people are demoralized and
need to know that we respect the work they do. We know the work
that is going on, and I think it is very important to offer
that type of solidarity.
Ms. Anderson. Thank you.
Ms. Bass. What has been the impact of worsening security
conditions in Mali, Burkina Faso, and parts of Niger on the
ability of U.S. civilian personnel and assistance implementers
to administer and oversee diplomatic and foreign aid
activities?
And I had asked Ms. Baird about the staffing situation, and
I do not know if that is one of the reasons why positions are
unfilled, but I would like for you to respond to that, too, Ms.
Anderson.
Ms. Anderson. We are actually increasing our efforts in
Niger and Burkina Faso, and yet it is getting in some places
increasingly difficult to get out to the field and do the kind
of oversight that we need to do.
We work where we can, and there are cases where diplomatic
security keeps us closer to the capital. And we are not
actually able to send our staff out into the field, so we look
for any innovations that we can find. We do a fair amount of
third-party monitoring of our activities, and we have our
partners implementing activities.
We never want to put anybody into direct danger, and we
have very many courageous partners who are out there. So we do
third-party monitoring using--getting information from people
who are already in the local locations and can send us
information. We use technology to do that monitoring.
Our staff--turning to the question about unfilled positions
and the challenges in staffing USAID in the Sahel, it is hard
to staff those positions sometimes. We have worked on something
we are calling a difficult-to-staff incentive differential,
which we have piloted. It seems to be having----
Ms. Bass. What is it?
Ms. Anderson [continuing]. An impact.
Ms. Bass. What is it?
Ms. Anderson. It is additional differential payment for
people who are willing to go to those posts, so that we align
better with the State Department's policies, actually.
Ms. Bass. Are there any other incentives that could be
offered, such as more frequent return visits home, you know,
back to the States? I mean, is there a package of benefits that
could be put together?
Ms. Anderson. These are things that we have been thinking
about because we offer that in some other places, and I think
that has----
Ms. Bass. Where is an example of where you offer that?
Ms. Anderson. For example, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, South
Sudan.
Ms. Bass. And so there is a difference, so what you offer
for those countries you do not offer for people that are at
Burkina Faso?
Ms. Anderson. Yes. And then we have worked with--in our
bidding system for foreign service officers ways to require
people to bid on the priority positions that we establish, and
those often include the Sahel. So we are looking at----
Ms. Bass. Do you think that makes a difference? I mean, in
Afghanistan, for example, do you have trouble getting people to
go to Afghanistan?
Ms. Anderson. We think the incentives are--actually, the
financial incentives are working quite well.
Ms. Bass. So that could be a big possibility, then,
correct?
Ms. Anderson. Yes.
Ms. Bass. So what does it take to make that happen?
Ms. Anderson. Yes. That is something that is ongoing in our
review of the incentive that we have already provided. And
then, as we go through the next round of assignments, we will
have a look and see how it is working. If we can get the right
people into the right places, great. If not, we will have to
turn to the next step.
Ms. Bass. So I am not sure if that sounds very promising. I
mean, that does not sound like anything that is getting ready
to happen anytime soon. Go ahead.
Ms. Baird. Those considerations are also sort of a constant
conversation that we have. One of the things I would say is if
you make the sorts of changes that provide the incentives that
are present in a place like Afghanistan, Somalia, some others,
then you are taking on a 1-year post and you are making a
change in whether dependents can also travel to post.
So it changes the tenor of the post. So I think that is an
ongoing conversation and a balance with post leadership and the
Undersecretary for Management in the Department and our other
agencies that you review, because you are--you know, there are
tradeoffs on any of these decisions when you are making that
kind of calculation.
Ms. Bass. You know, I understand that. I guess, you know,
being in a place that had a 7,000 percent increase in attacks
in 6 months, and what you just described, I just do not know
what that means in terms of an ongoing conversation, and this
and that. It just sounds like nothing is getting ready to
happen soon.
Ms. Baird. We have a constant conversation with our post,
with their--in the case of Burkina Faso, with Ambassador Young
and the Deputy Chief of Mission, with their management staff.
They review. They hold Emergency Action Committee meetings
regularly, town hall meetings to ensure that they are keeping
in touch with the dependent community, and, in fact, the
unofficial American community that is present there to ensure
that they feel comfortable with the security situation.
In fact, in Burkina, they held Emergency Action Committee
meetings this week and a town hall this week, and, you know, we
continue a robust conversation. Absolutely, the safety and
security of the American staff and family members is really our
top priority. Beyond anything else, that is our first
responsibility overseas.
Ms. Bass. So let me just state for the record that when I
was in Burkina Faso, the staff made absolutely no complaints,
didn't say they were looking for more staff. That was my
opinion, especially when I see all of the violence that has
increased, and it must be very frightening to work there. So
they were not pushing for that, but empty chairs are empty
chairs. They do kind of speak for themselves.
So I guess I am still not quite clear what moves the dial,
so that a decision is made.
Ms. Anderson. I could also add that we have the option,
when we have vacancies, whether it is caused by somebody
departing unexpectedly or inability to fill a position, we can
also turn to hiring people as personal services contractors,
and we have done that pretty frequently.
For example, in Niger, at the moment we have someone who is
serving as a personal services contractor as the acting head of
the operating unit there until we are able to fill the
position. And that is sometimes more flexible for us, often
more flexible.
Ms. Bass. Yes. Sure, I understand that. So one last
question before I move to Representative Houlahan. So do you
think that the violence in Burkina Faso--I know some of it is
ideological--but overall, do you think it is ideological or is
it economic-based?
Ms. Baird. I would say that it is a combination. I think
that there are certainly----
Ms. Bass. 50/50?
Ms. Baird. I do not know. I think that there are elements
of probably, again, frustration with the lack of State presence
and service provision. I think that there are economic
difficulties, poverty, competition for resources, and in fact
there are--I think there is probably some fluidity, but I think
there absolutely are committed jihadists in the region, and
people who are very vulnerable to recruitment.
Ms. Bass. Identified with one of the larger groups, like
AQIM or Boko Haram?
Ms. Baird. Indeed, or Ansar al Islam, which appears to be
more of a homegrown Burkinabe group. And so I think it is a
mix, and I think it is----
Ms. Bass. And, again, I was just talking about Burkina Faso
initially.
Ms. Baird. Right. It is an unholy mix, and that probably is
what made it so difficult to get--you know, to get your arms
around and for the Burkinabe government and security forces to
take it on in any kind of effective way.
Ms. Bass. Representative Houlahan.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. And thank you, ladies, for coming
today. I understand earlier, Ms. Baird, that you were talking a
little bit about the importance of engaging women, particularly
in extremism and violent situations in terms of security. Can
you give us some detail about that possibly? What does
engagement look like, and how are you encouraging it in terms
of peace and security?
Ms. Baird. Thank you. I will answer briefly, and then pass
to my colleague, because USAID also I think is heavily engaged.
From the point of view of the Embassy or the Department of
State, we do outreach on many levels to reach women's groups,
to ensure that our public outreach and our community-building
activities include civil society but particularly women's
groups.
I think, you know, just as a policy matter it is really
important in these very economically challenged regions where
there is large demographic pressure that every member of
society feels that they have a legitimate voice. Our public
diplomacy efforts and efforts in outreach try to reach at sort
of micro level these small groups but also at a macro level.
In our discussions with the host governments, to ensure
that their policies are inclusive, it is just a basic part of
our DNA and the way that we work. Additionally, I think one of
the best programs we have in Africa is the Young African
Leaders Initiative, the YALI Program, which seeks to--which
these young people nominate themselves for and helps them come
to the United States or go for regional training in Dakar and
begin to build networks, so it is not exclusively women but I
think we work very hard to ensure that there is good
representation of young women, so that they get the exposure
and the network opportunities to take back, whether in
entrepreneurship or whether they themselves are moving into
civil society or government positions, that they have that
feeling of power, so that they can contribute moving forward.
We think that is very important to success of any of our
policies there.
Ms. Houlahan. And in your particular function--and then I
would love to hear from you, Ms. Anderson, too--it also is
important that people see what they hope to be in a sense when
you are looking at your own staff in the region. Is there a
good diversity represented in terms of gender as well as other
diversification?
Ms. Baird. Absolutely. In all of our embassies in the
region, I think we look to recruit--if you are talking
particularly about professional, locally engaged staff, where
possible, you want to have inclusion, not just gender inclusion
but also ethnic inclusion.
Ms. Houlahan. Sure.
Ms. Baird. In countries where often there is a great deal
of scratchy relationships perhaps between ethnic groups, or
there may be competition for power, it is very important that
the embassies model to the best of their ability the inclusive
nature that should exist in each of the countries.
Ms. Houlahan. Yes. And the only reason I ask is in my very
limited time here in Congress I did have the opportunity to go
to the Middle East and sat with the State Department there and
was really pretty unpleased, displeased with the ratio of men
and women there in our own, you know, core. And thank you.
Ms. Anderson, if you have anything to add to that, I would
love to hear, too.
Ms. Anderson. Thank you. Women and youth are central to all
of our planning and our programming in USAID. They have to be,
especially in the Sahel for us to be successful. So when you
think about, for instance, countering violent extremism, women
can play a very positive role in peace and security, and they
can also be co-opted to play terrible roles.
So this has to be a part of our planning, and it is part of
our policy in terms of how we plan our programs. And engaging
women in youth, when you think about the opportunities that we
can present for women to create peace in their communities, one
thing we are doing with our program that we call Voices for
Peace, it gives women in tech a special effort to incorporate
technologies, so that women can have their own radio
programming and speak to larger numbers of people.
In education, for example, in Niger, there is an 18 percent
gap in enrollment between girls and boys. So we are always
focusing on how can we ensure the equality and equities in our
programs.
Food security, we have to make sure that women are engaged
and that women can have access to the kinds of--to land, to
land tenure, documentation of the land, to the inputs they
need, the financing, and also have control over those resources
because they play a really important role in food security in
the Sahel, as well as in their household, food security and
resilience.
Ms. Houlahan. And I know that I have run out of time, so I
would love it if I could have another opportunity when we
finish with everybody. That would be great. I apologize. thank
you.
Ms. Anderson. I also think, in terms of our diversity and
staff, I think we are doing pretty well. It is important also
to think about, we also look at our own--our local staff, our
foreign service national staff, and that is also important to
us.
Ms. Bass. But on that note, though, I would say there is
definitely more that needs to be done on the racial diversity
on the U.S. staff. I understand the local staff, but the U.S.
staff, there is a pretty sharp lack of diversity.
Ms. Bass. Ms. Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for
the courtesy of being part of this program, this hearing.
And I am appreciative of the service of both of you. If I
could just ask, is there an Assistant Secretary for West
African Security Affairs in place?
Ms. Baird. We have an assistant. Our Assistant Secretary
for African Affairs, Tibor Najy, is in place, yes. He----
Ms. Jackson Lee. And is that a permanent appointment?
Ms. Baird. It is a permanent appointment.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Has been confirmed?
Ms. Baird. He was a career foreign service officer and had
retired and was appointed by the Administration and has been in
place since I believe it is July 2018.
Ms. Jackson Lee. And is there an Assistant Administrator
for the Bureau for Africa? I think that is--you are Deputy
Assistant, Ms. Anderson. Is there an Administrator in place?
Ms. Anderson. For Africa, the head of our Africa Bureau is
Ramsey Day. And his title now is Senior Deputy Assistant
Administrator, as the head of the Bureau.
Ms. Jackson Lee. And he is in place.
Ms. Anderson. Yes.
Ms. Jackson Lee. What is the person's name?
Ms. Anderson. Ramsey Day.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Okay. And that has been in place since how
long?
Ms. Anderson. I think he has been in place since September
2018.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Okay. So at least a year they have been in
place. I think that is important because I was able to join the
codel that Congresswoman Bass led to Djibouti and Burkina Faso
and Niger, and certainly to Germany.
One of the strongest proponents of friendship that I think
we have in the competition to snatch Africa into one corner or
the other, rather than treating the continent as respected
future leaders of the world, frankly, in an economy that is
going to surpass many economies, is a question of security.
The level of conflict is going to continuously undermine, I
think, the potential for growth. So my question is: in your
work, are you aware of the Africa Command and its work, and are
there briefings that you all engage in to discern what the
security level of the country--of some of the countries that I
have mentioned?
Every one of these countries, except Djibouti of course,
was concerned about security, and it was a detriment to any
economic growth that they could have. So what is the
relationship between, in particular, the Africa Bureau, the
Assistant Secretary, and Africa Command?
Ms. Baird. Thank you very much for that. In fact, part of
my responsibility, it is not just West Africa, but my other
responsibility is regional peace and security issues for the
continent, for the Africa Bureau.
We have a very close relationship with AFRICOM, with the
Africa Command. I was there in October meeting with the
officials there, as well as with Ambassadors from four of the
five G5 Sahel countries. Our Ambassadors from Mauritania, from
Niger, from Mali, and Burkina Faso all came, and we came
together to discuss our joint security concerns and the ways
that we could respond to that.
And, in fact, I will be going out in just a few weeks to--
again, to AFRICOM to meet with our Ambassadors from Ghana,
Togo, and Benin to talk about some of the issues associated
with security in those coastal countries. I absolutely agree
with you that the security concerns are thwarting countries'
economic ambitions.
I think for our Assistant Secretary the growth--the
potential growth in markets and the youth bulge in these
countries is one of the most important aspects that should
inform our relationship with countries. The reality in the
Sahel is in many cases humanitarian development concerns and
the security concerns overweigh the potential economic
development. I think we have a more encouraging story to tell
in the short term with countries like Ghana, with Cote
d'Ivoire, with Senegal, and others, but we stay engaged with
all of them. And so we very much appreciate your interest and
your visits there, and we continue to coordinate.
It is absolutely a 3D approach--development, defense, and
diplomacy. It is absolutely crucial.
Ms. Jackson Lee. And I appreciate that. I think it is
important. I am not suggesting boots on the ground. I am not
suggesting engaging in war, but I do think it is important
for--at the highest level of the State Department, the
Secretary of State, to realize the--``detraction'' is too light
a word--that occurs for the success of Burkina Faso, if the
head of State is spending a great amount of time and it looks
as if that should be a pronounced policy of the State
Department to work with the continent and countries on dealing
with--you know, the African Union and others are dealing with
this mounting violence that occurs, decapitation, the taking of
young girls just recently.
It is certainly rampant in Nigeria where, in particular, I
just met the mother of Rebecca Sharibu, a Christian girl, that
I would request what we are doing to help secure her freedom.
But the point is, the violence is extensive. You sit in
these countries and meet with their presidents, and they are
consumed with it. And I just think it needs to be a high-
profile issue at the State Department level to be able to
engage with either other African countries that can be of help
to let--it is a humanitarian crisis--but to let Africa know
that we stand with them against this violence.
And we want to assist them in those countries taking charge
of this violence, because it is destabilizing, but it is also
interfering with all of the young leaders that are really
trying to--when I say ``leaders,'' I am talking about young
people who are trying to create a new Africa. So----
Ms. Baird. Thank you very much. For us, our engagement, we
absolutely agree that it is important for us to remain engaged
with the countries that are facing violence, but also, frankly,
with their regional partners to look at ways to help them push
back on that.
Additionally, a great deal of our assistance is in trying
to help these countries build, secure, and accountable security
services that are viewed by their populations as part of the
solution and not part of the problem, to work with them so that
they are able to meet the security challenges and the violence
without, in fact, inflicting violence, further violence on
innocent members of their own population.
And so I appreciate your interest and your continued
interest. It absolutely is a priority for us.
Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank the chair, and I would appreciate
it if I could get some report back on Rebecca's standing. You
were shaking your head as you know the story out of--and there
are several of us engaged. It seems like she is being
particularly brutalized, and we hope she is alive and wish that
she is alive, and praying for her, but we need to know anything
that we are able to do.
Ms. Baird. Thank you very much. We will be happy to get
back to you with details. I do not have them with me right now.
Yes, Nigeria is within my area of responsibility, and
absolutely our embassy is consistently engaged with the
Nigerian government and with other partners to see what we can
do to encourage her release, and to ensure her well-being. I
appreciate your interest.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you.
Ms. Bass. Representative Houlahan, you are welcome.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. I want to just followup on some of
those questions. And I believe, Ms. Anderson, you would be
probably most appropriate to answer this question. We talked a
little bit about women and their engagement helpfully and in a
harmful way in terms of peace and security, but no women could
be--or girl can be helpful or harmful if they are not alive, if
they are not healthy.
And one of the things that I have been struck by is the
defunding on the United States' side of the UNFPA. And I wanted
to understand from you, Ms. Anderson, what is USAID doing to
help make sure that maternal mortality continues to be
addressed, to make sure that women and girls are healthy in the
absence of UNFPA support in that area?
Ms. Anderson. Thank you. Maternal and child health is of
critical importance to us in the Sahel, and we also recognize
that almost 65 percent of the population is under 25, and we
recognize the challenges posed to maternal and child health by
unhealthy child spacing.
So we are investing in the latest Fiscal Year approximately
$29 million across the Sahel in maternal and child health, and
about $24 million in family planning, voluntary family
planning.
Ms. Houlahan. And I helped lead a letter that basically
implored this Administration to continue or recontinue the
funding for UNFPA. Is there anything else that a Member of
Congress, that we here in this body, can do to be helpful, to
continue to advocate for that? Is there anything else that we
can be doing to be more helpful on this issue that is clearly
very worrisome for many of us?
Ms. Anderson. I think I would say that was a policy
decision.
Ms. Houlahan. Ms. Baird, do you have anything to add?
Ms. Baird. No.
Ms. Houlahan. My last question for you all has to do with
all of this schools that I understand have been being closed,
9,000 schools have been closed across the Sahel and Central
Africa, and people are in tenuous situations in terms of their
ability to access education. What are the alternative efforts
that are ongoing? Where are these kids and young people able to
seek education, if anywhere?
Ms. Baird. So I think, first, I will take that on as,
really, a larger policy issue. I know that when I was in
Burkina Faso, President Kabore made an absolute point that is
one of the most worrisome aspects for him was at that point
there were well over 1,000 schools that had been forced to be
closed because of violence which created situations where the
teachers in most cases had had to flee.
It is an aspect of the lack of State presence, which again
reduces State legitimacy and the sense of the government
delivering services to the population, and, indeed, it makes
young people ever more vulnerable.
I think, you know, in the first instance, I think in all of
these countries there is intent and desire for the security
services to retake and then try to hold some of these areas in
order to bit by bit, in an incremental way, get schools back
open, begin to get community and local and regional
governmental operations going again.
But I think, you know, I would be lying if I said this
would be anything but an incremental effort that will take a
good bit of time because security services can go in and take a
village, you know, clear it out, but what is required to
actually hold it in the sense of rebuilding the community is
that State presence, the police, the gendarmes, you know, the
judges, I mean, just all of the elements of a community that
operates, including teachers and the families and the kids.
So one of the aspects of this that I think is most
destructive is the closure of schools and the what we would
call ``annee blanche,'' the situation where children are
missing years of their education because it is very difficult
to make that back. It is part of our effort and intervention,
and I know USAID is engaged as well.
Ms. Houlahan. Speaking of the USAID, what kind of efforts
are you using, maybe with UNICEF, to create alternative
learning? You guys mentioned something about radio programming,
faith-based learning. Is there any other alternative
opportunities for people to seek education?
Ms. Anderson. It is incredible to see how much communities
and families value education. And even when the children are in
danger by being in school because the school is associated with
the government and it is a target of attack, the value of that
education is so important.
And one of the things that we are doing is we are, as part
of our resilience efforts, is to help schools be prepared. So
if there is an attack, how do you quickly build back? How do
you quickly get back into action with your school? We are
targeting out-of-school youth as well, so that we can find ways
that they can have alternatives to actual formal school
learning.
And we are part of a network of other development partners
that is called Education in Emergencies. So we are learning
from each other, and we are using any kind of technology that
is available to be able to provide education to the kids who
are affected by violence and they have been, for whatever
reason, not able to go to their actual schools.
Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. And I am out of time, sadly, but I
would like to emphasize that although I do understand that
UNFPA lack of funding or funding is a policy decision, it is
present in all of the Sahel region. And as a result, the fact
that we are not actively engaged in funding the issues that you
are talking about with women's reproductive health and health
in general means that people are dying as a consequence,
particularly women.
Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate
it.
Ms. Bass. I just have a couple more questions and we will
be finished. I wanted to ask you, to what extent has a lack of
transparency surrounding natural resource extraction in Burkina
Faso driven political grievances in the country? What do you
know, in general, about the natural resources and the
contracts?
Ms. Baird. I think I will have to get back to you with
details on that. I think in a general sense, obviously, lack of
transparency in disposition of critical resources in resource-
challenged countries is always an area of potential grievance.
I know that Burkina Faso is blessed with critical minerals,
but the specifics beyond the companies that I know are
operating in the region and how those----
Ms. Bass. Do you know if there are any American companies?
Ms. Baird. Sorry?
Ms. Bass. Do you know if there are any American companies?
Ms. Baird. Not major mining companies. The Canadians are
very present, however.
Ms. Bass. How about the French?
Ms. Baird. In mining, I do not have that detail. The
Canadians I know about because, of course, it was the Canadian
mining company's convoy that was attacked late last week where,
you know, 39, 40 people were killed. It was really an egregious
attack, very worrisome.
Ms. Bass. So I had asked earlier, but I do not think you
guys responded, about our relationship with the French, how we
cooperate, especially on the security situation. And also, I
mean, I asked about the natural resources because, you know,
obviously, to address the root causes in these countries, we
have to look at their natural wealth.
And while we address the surface issues, I just always
wonder what we are doing around those issues as well. If they
had control of their resources with better contracts, or good
contracts, maybe they would have more resources to do things,
like education, all the schools you talked about being closed,
be able to actually respond to their own security situation.
Ms. Baird. No. I would be happy to talk about our
cooperation with the French, and then maybe I will pass it to
Cheryl, who can talk a bit about our donor coordination with
the French, which I think is also quite robust.
Both in diplomacy and in security, we have a very close
relationship with the French. Certainly, in the Sahel, through
Operation Barkhane, the French counterterrorism efforts, we
have supported that. We view their efforts in pushing back on
Jainem and other jihadist actors is very much in our own
interest in promoting stability in the region.
We consult very closely with the French. We have a P3
process where we have regular conversations with our French and
British partners. In fact, our Assistant Secretary does regular
secure video teleconferences with----
Ms. Bass. Do you think their financial investment is close
to ours in terms of their embassy? Do they have difficulties
staffing it like we do? Do they have their counterpart to
USAID, do they put in an equal amount? More? Less?
Ms. Baird. I think the French are very present in each and
every one of these countries, obviously, and most of them, the
francophone ones, they have these long-term post-Colonial
relationships, and they are----
Ms. Bass. And that is why I am asking. I just want to know
the----
Ms. Baird. The question of how they staff and how----
Ms. Bass. Doesn't mean they are----
Ms. Baird [continuing]. Easily they can staff, I do not
have the detail. I do not have the detail on that. I do know,
you know, on an individual level in each of these countries
there is very close coordination between our chiefs of mission
and our diplomatic and our security personnel. And certainly
from Washington, with Paris, we keep in very close touch.
Ms. Bass. Thank you.
Ms. Anderson. By some measures, in the Sahel we are the
largest donor, especially in humanitarian assistance. But
across the Sahel, actually altogether we are the second largest
bilateral donor, and we are No. 2 to the French. So it is
really important for us to be coordinating with the French on
humanitarian as well as development in all our resilience work.
We have structures set up in each country so that we have
got coordination across the bilateral and multi-lateral donors,
preferably with the government, with a partner government
involved. And so there we are ensuring that we have the
appropriate division of labor and that we are not working at
cross-purposes, not duplicating efforts. We also coordinate at
the headquarters level.
There is another structure that has been set up as well,
and that is called the Sahel Alliance, so part of the G5 Sahel
alliance on security and development. We are an observer. Our
status is observer in the Sahel Alliance.
And there was a very large meeting of the Alliance last
December, including the partner countries represented, and I
think there has been a lot of--at least a lot of pledging of
support. I think what is important now is the real
coordination, and actually delivering what has been promised.
And I have to say, we are not a full member partly because
there was an expectation of being part of the mechanisms that
were set up, and those can be sometimes cumbersome and slow and
hard for us, given the requirements that we have for delivering
development assistance.
But, anyway, it provides us a platform for coordination
that I think is very important, and it also is a very important
statement by the G5 Sahel members that, yes, security actions
are important, and our armed forces are important, but
development and building resilience is also very important, and
preventing violent extremism and preventing violence in the
region is very important as well.
Ms. Bass. Well, I just want to thank both of you for your
time today, and of course for your service. And anything that I
can do, we can do here to be supportive of your efforts, we
would very much appreciate hearing your recommendations and
advice.
So with this, the committee stands adjourned. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 3:41 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
APPENDIX
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STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
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RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
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OPENING STATEMENT SUBMITTED FROM CHAIRMAN BASS
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