Social cohesion must be recognized not merely as a foundation for peace, but as a strategic economic investment in sustainable development and shared prosperity, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Administrator Haoliang Xu emphasized during a joint high-level roundtable with the Nigerien government in Niamey.
The collaborative forum highlighted the central role that community resilience and institutional trust play in establishing the necessary baseline conditions for long-term social and economic progress.
Addressing participants at the event, Xu stressed that social cohesion directly enhances a society’s capacity to navigate crisis recovery and achieve a more equitable distribution of development benefits. He underscored the urgency of rebuilding trust between citizens and state institutions, establishing localized dialogue mechanisms, and deploying targeted interventions tailored specifically to regional realities across the country.
According to the UN agency, successful peacebuilding and social stability initiatives must be nationally driven and rooted deeply in community participation. This approach enables local populations to address structural vulnerabilities directly, reinforce local resilience against emerging shocks, and generate long-term “peace dividends”—the tangible social and economic gains derived from a stable, secure environment.
The joint initiative reflects a broader shift by the Nigerien government and the UNDP away from short-term crisis management toward an integrated development framework. By linking peacebuilding directly with economic policy, institutional transparency, and community-driven resilience, both parties aim to establish an inclusive foundation for sustainable growth and national stability across Niger.
TE/Sf/lb/abj/APA