UN Development Fund supports prosperity in Sahel region

  Some 19 Sahel armies will participate in US-led exercises Nouakchott – Mohammed Abeidy Sherif UN special envoy Romano Prodi has announced a development fund aimed at boosting prosperity, peace and quality-of-life in the Sahel region. A joint announcement by Prodi and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz heralded the news on Thursday.
The fund was “aimed at aiding the region so that the Sahel reaches at least the same level of development as other African countries,” Prodi said in a press statement.
"Countries across the world have expressed their willingness in lending their support to the region," Prodi said, expressing the international community's concern over the risk of terrorism in the region and its implications for the wider world.
Mauritanian chief-of-staff General Mohammed Ould Ghazouani meanwhile visited the southwestern town of Néma, close to the Malian border, to prepare for US-led military manoeuvres slated for the end of the month.
Some 19 Sahel armies will participate in the exercise, the third of its kind in the region.
Senegal previously hosted military exercises in 2010, followed by Burkina Faso in 2011. Mali was originally slated to host this year’s manoeuvres but an ongoing conflict against radical Islamists forced plans to change.