Ouagadougou: Senior officials of the Confederation of Sahel States are convening in Ouagadougou from November 24 to 25, 2025, to lay the groundwork for the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for November 26 in the Burkinabe capital. The meeting commenced this morning, attended by expert delegations from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.
According to Burkina Information Agency, these senior officials, who are experts in the AES Confederation's three main intervention areas-diplomacy, defense-security, and development-are tasked with establishing the technical, political, and diplomatic foundations of the confederal space. These foundations will be evaluated by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs before the 2nd session of the College of Heads of State of the AES space.
The Head of the Burkinabe delegation, Ambassador Secretary General Yirigouin Hermann TOE, emphasized the importance of the preparatory meeting, stating its purpose is to "harmonize our diplomatic positions so that the AES speaks with one strong and coherent voice on the regional and international stage."
During the meeting, the experts will initially review achievements made since the first session of the College of Heads of State and assess the implementation of the roadmap under the Malian presidency. The Head of the Malian delegation, Ambassador Mahamane Amadou MAIGA, highlighted the objective of identifying prospects for consolidating peace and fraternity among the three nations and enhancing the Confederation's sovereignty globally.
Ambassador Ousmane ALHASSANE, leading the Niger delegation, noted that several reports would be examined and finalized during the proceedings. These include the draft additional protocol for the Confederation's pillars and confederal sessions of the Parliaments, the draft rules of procedure for the confederal sessions of the Council of Ministers, and the draft working document for the foreign ministers' meeting session.
The outcomes of these 48 hours of deliberations will be presented to the Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on Wednesday, November 26, in preparation for the 2nd session of the College of Heads of State of the AES Confederation, set to occur in December 2025.