UNDP urges community-led approach to tackle Gulf of Guinea insecurity
Monday, 08 June 2026 11:52 
(Togo First) - Responses to security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea must be more rooted in local communities. That is one of the key positions advanced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) following the regional dialogue on conflict prevention held in Lomé on June 3 and 4.
For the U.N. agency, the threats facing West African coastal countries are not solely security-related but also stem from persistent socioeconomic fragilities at the local level.
"The analyses conducted by the various governments and their partners show that the risks are not only security-related — they are rooted in socioeconomic fragilities at the community level," said Nadine Rugwe, governance adviser at the UNDP Sub-Regional Hub for West and Central Africa.
Several factors are combining to heighten tensions across the coastal corridor countries, Rugwe said, including the proliferation of small arms, the growth of illicit economies and conflicts between farmers and herders. The situation particularly concerns Togo, Benin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
In response to these challenges, the UNDP is calling for a more participatory approach to designing and implementing prevention programmes.
"We want to strengthen collaboration among the governments of these five countries, but also regional institutions, civil society and community-level authorities, so that we can develop solutions that involve all stakeholders," Rugwe said.
The goal includes fostering greater local ownership of initiatives. According to the UNDP, responses deployed to date have sometimes been perceived as disconnected from local realities, limiting their long-term effectiveness.
This approach forms part of the new Gulf of Guinea Prevention Facility (2026-2029), launched in Lomé by the United Nations system. The regional platform will coordinate interventions across the five coastal corridor countries, focusing on governance, the protection of populations and local economic development.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
