Job Tiguem Poudiougo, 2024-2025 Impact West Africa Fellow, emphasized in his piece the alarming phenomenon of child begging in the Sahel region, characterizing it as a potent symbol of the social fragility and poverty exacerbated by multiple ongoing crises in countries like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. The normalization of child begging is deemed a “ticking time bomb” for the Sahel’s future, risking social and economic instability. Tiguem, in his piece, calls for urgent, harmonized efforts between governments, civil society, and international organizations to address this social and security emergency.
