The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have opened talks to establish a framework for cooperation, marking a new attempt to rebuild relations following years of political tensions over sovereignty, military coups, and regional sanctions.

The two blocs held their inaugural ministerial dialogue in Dakar, Senegal, on October 17, where they agreed to establish joint thematic working groups to develop a Cooperation Framework Agreement. The meeting brought together representatives of ECOWAS and the AES Confederation, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

In a joint communiqué issued after the meeting, both sides welcomed the “spirit of fraternity, mutual respect, and openness” that characterized their discussions, recalling the historical, sociocultural and economic ties that unite the peoples of West Africa.

The parties also agreed that their future relations should be guided by “good neighborliness, respect for sovereignty, dignity, and the well-being of West African populations.”

The dialogue marks a significant diplomatic development following the deterioration of relations between ECOWAS and the three Sahelian countries, whose military-led governments have pursued a political course centered on national sovereignty and a rejection of established Western influence.

Political tensions to dialogue

Relations between the two blocs deteriorated following military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2020 and 2023. ECOWAS imposed sanctions and threatened further measures in response to the military takeovers, while the governments of the three countries increasingly challenged the regional organization’s authority.

In January 2024, the three countries announced their intention to withdraw from ECOWAS, their withdrawal formally took effect on January 29, 2025, opening a new chapter in regional relations.

The AES had been established in September 2023, initially creating a mutual defense framework among Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The three countries subsequently deepened their cooperation, formally establishing the Confederation of Sahel States in July 2024.

Throughout the confrontation, the Sahelian governments maintained that their decisions reflected the right of their peoples to determine their own political and economic futures. ECOWAS sanctions, particularly those imposed on Niger following the July 2023 coup, generated considerable opposition within the country and wider debate over the consequences of regional punitive measures for ordinary people.

For many supporters of the AES, ECOWAS’s response to the coups reinforced the perception that the organization was protecting Western, particularly French, strategic interests rather than defending the sovereignty of West African peoples.

A framework for cooperation

According to the joint communiqué, the Dakar meeting followed earlier consultations held on May 22, 2025, in Bamako, Mali. The latest session allowed the parties to exchange views on areas of common interest and discuss how future negotiations could be structured.

Both sides expressed their willingness to pursue a cooperation framework that is “balanced, realistic and preserves the interests of their peoples.”

The communiqué further states that joint thematic working groups will undertake technical consultations towards developing a formal Cooperation Framework Agreement. Their findings will be submitted to the ministers for consideration before the next session.

The agreement to establish these working groups is an initial step towards institutionalizing dialogue between the two organizations. However, the communiqué does not specify a final agreement, a timetable for completing negotiations or detailed commitments in individual policy areas.

The discussions nevertheless provide an opening for the two blocs to address practical questions arising from their separation, including the maintenance of cross-border relations and the interests of communities whose economic and social lives extend across national boundaries.

Despite their institutional differences, the populations of the two blocs remain connected through trade, migration, family ties and shared cultural histories. The three AES countries are landlocked, and their economic relationships with neighboring West African states remain important to regional commerce and livelihoods as it defends its sovereignty.

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Burkina Faso has begun reviewing its history, geography and civic education curricula. The government says the aim is to “decolonize” the country’s schools by removing colonial-era portrayals of African history and giving more space to national history, African resistance, cultural values, and local knowledge.

Speaking during a meeting with education officials in Ouagadougou, Secondary Education Minister Moumouni Zoungrana criticized the language used in school textbooks to describe European colonialists.

“Those who came to conquer Africa are called explorers, conquerors. Were they conquerors? They were spies…. They were invaders,” the minister said, according to APA News.

The minister said certain terms in the current materials serve to “infantilize” and “animalize” Africans in the teaching of their own history. “We have made a firm resolution to reread these curricula, to reread the content and to remove the words that are infantilizing and animaliz-ing us,” he said.

He added that the reform would go beyond removing offensive language. “We have made the same decision to add other chapters that promote our values and eliminate the chapters that are dragging us down,” he said.

Further, during the second phase of Burkina Faso’s National Days of Patriotic Commitment and Citizen Participation (JEPPC), where officials presented education reforms and responded to concerns raised by citizens.

It was emphasized that beyond the revision of historical narratives, the reforms seek to make education more responsive to Burkina Faso’s sociocultural and environmental realities.

Measures include strengthening civic and moral education, introducing English progressively from the second grade, expanding instruction in national languages, and promoting bilingual education and cultural activities in schools.

‘The logical continuation’ of decolonizing reforms

Souleymane Kimbié Armel, of the Comité international Mémorial Thomas Sankara, told BreakThrough News that the curriculum overhaul follows directly from the country’s wider political project. Armel said the reforms sought to decolonize the minds of younger generations, arguing that previous curricula glorified European colonialists while presenting African societies through degrading descriptions. He cited the expression “the flight of the Moogho Naaba,” referring to the Mossi king of Ouagadougou at the arrival of invading forces, as an example of terminology that requires critical examination.

“The change in the curriculum is the logical continuation of reforms aimed at decolonizing mindsets, beginning with the youngest members of society,” Armel said.

He also challenged what he described as the longstanding portrayal of Burkina Faso as an inherently poor country, arguing that such narratives obscure the country’s capacities and resources.

According to Armel, the educational system has historically failed to recognize the value of Burkina Faso’s cultural diversity, sometimes presenting ethnic differences as a source of division rather than a strength.

Instead, he said, the reforms aim to restore popular confidence and pride by helping students understand their own histories, cultures and collective capacities. “All these reforms aim to restore the people’s pride and confidence in their own abilities,” he said.

The emphasis on national history and indigenous knowledge is therefore intended not only to change what students learn but also to challenge inherited assumptions about African societies and their capacity for self-directed development.

Liberation struggles key to the new curriculum

Liberation struggles are at the center of the new curricula, Armel said. “African states and countries of the Global South have always fought for their emancipation. The history of these struggles must be known by present and future generations,” he said. It is in this spirit that the Haitian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution, and Thomas Sankara’s revolution are being taught.”

“The objective is to sow the seeds of revolution among young students,” he said. He noted that the Ministry has developed teaching modules and curricula and distributed them to teachers. He added that the reforms are not limited to political education.

“Beyond teaching these revolutions, the transformation also involves technical and scientific education, with the aim of ensuring that young Burkinabè are both politically conscious and technically competent.”

Armel linked the reforms to economic sovereignty, drawing on the South African anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko. “As Steve Biko rightly said, what the master has conquered in the colonized is their mind. No development can take place without the decolonization of mindsets,” he said.

“This will help prevent the economy from being outward-oriented and dependent on external forces. It will also help stem the brain drain to Western countries.” “Teaching in national languages and incorporating indigenous knowledge will contribute to achieving political sovereignty,” he continued.

“In a context where the people must remain continuously mobilized, the education system should enable them to rely on their own capabilities to take charge of their country’s development.”

Challenges ahead

Armel acknowledged that implementing the reforms will be difficult. “Implementing these curricula also presents challenges, including the need to train teachers in the new concepts and ideas being introduced. This will enable teachers to understand and teach in the spirit of these changes,” he said.

“In addition, textbooks and teaching materials for both teachers and students must be developed to support the reforms and improve their effectiveness.” He also pointed to political opposition. “As with any reform, there is resistance from Francophiles who are ardent supporters of the French system.

These groups represent obstacles that must be taken seriously,” he said. “Ultimately, the state must provide teachers with training and greater motivation so that they can sustain the revolution within the school system.”

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Tafouk TV, the media channel launched by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), has taken a significant step forward, beginning regular programming from Bamako on September 16.

The launch marks another step in the efforts by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, to build shared institutions since forming the AES Confederation, which has also launched joint military operations and AES passports.

The channel’s origins lie in an agreement signed by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in Bamako on December 21, 2025. Two days later, on December 23, the AES College of Heads of State formally launched it during their summit in the Malian capital.

Tafouk TV is one part of a wider confederal media system that also includes the Daandè Liptako radio station, which began broadcasting in December 2025, and a planned confederal press agency. The AES governments present these outlets as sovereign communication tools that reflect the realities, priorities and aspirations of Sahelian people.

In June 2026, Mali’s Minister of Communication, Digital Economy and Administrative Modernization, Alhamdou Ag Ilyène, presided over the inaugural session of Tafouk TV‘s Board of Directors in Bamako.

The board is chaired by Hélène Ayika, and administrators appointed by all three member states attended alongside the channel’s director general. The Malian government called the meeting an important step in the “operationalization” of the channel, which was already functional at the time.

Each member state then completed its own legal process. Mali’s National Transitional Council unanimously ratified the founding agreements on July 10. Burkina Faso’s Legislative Assembly followed on July 21, with all 59 deputies present voting in favor.

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Massive school protests are ongoing in France, where students have been mobilizing for their right to education—and against the austerity measures undermining it.

Roughly 1,800 high schools were forced to shut down on October 6, as students—supported by trade unions, families, and progressive politicians—took to the streets. According to trade unions, over 450,000 people participated in protests across the country.

Students at 90% of French universities organized actions on the same day, adding even more weight to the historic mobilization.

The students’ main demands include urgent measures to address the critical situation in French schools: a shortage of teaching and support staff, oversized classes, and dilapidated buildings—particularly in working-class areas. Protesters are also calling for more manageable timetables, affordable and quality food and student housing, and an equitable education system.

Austerity at the roots of the protests

The situation in schools is strongly linked to years of neoliberal policies pushed by President Emmanuel Macron and several administrations. The mobilizations are taking place amid widespread discontent over the planned continuation—and harshening—of the same policies.

The country’s public deficit reached 5.1% of GDP in 2025, and debt interest rates represent a growing driver of this deficit. In 2025, the interest burden amounted to around €66 billion ($73.8 billion) across all public administrations; it is expected to reach €91 billion ($102 billion) in 2027 and approximately €120 billion ($134.3 billion) in 2030, warned Francesco Tirro for Progetto Me-Ti.

Mainstream economists suggest the only way to address that deficit is through cuts—an approach the current administration is only too eager to try, including through attacks on the pension and education systems.

Police repression against students

In response to the protests, French authorities have unleashed a rarely seen wave of police violence against students. The Ministry of Interior recorded approximately 5,000 arrests between September 21 and October 2, with 85% of those detained underage. Police used rubber bullets and dispersal grenades on children, leading to serious injuries—including protesters losing limbs and vision.

“Footage and testimonies widely reported over the last week raise alarming concerns about the dangerous use of tear gas, batons and restraint techniques by police,” said Anne Savinel-Barras from Amnesty International France.

The organization emphasized that authorities must ensure the response to demonstrations is “necessary and proportionate,” and that “children and young people peacefully demanding their right to education are protected rather than being beaten, tear-gassed, or arbitrarily detained.”

While human rights organizations appealed for an end to state-sanctioned violence against students, things were much quieter among the European political establishment. Where reactions were formulated, they were mild at best.

Unions and left support the students

Different progressive movements have sharpened their support for the student demonstrations over the past week, resulting in thousands of trade union members and dozens of elected officials forming cordons between police and students to shield the youth.

“All over the country, union members have turned out in large numbers to provide protection and support for high school students,” one of the main student associations, Union Syndicale Lycéenne, stated on Oct. 6.

“Today’s high school and university students are tomorrow’s workers, and they shouldn’t have to pay the price for austerity policies,” the General Confederation of Labor (Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) emphasized.

“When there is a shortage of teachers, when classrooms are overcrowded, when buildings are falling apart, and when young people see their future prospects shrinking, the answer cannot be repression.”

Progressive politicians, notably from La France Insoumise (LFI), also joined the protests, providing physical protection for students. As the mobilization began to roll out from Créteil, home of LFI’s Clémence Guetté and several other members.

The left party was among the first to off er support—and remained by their side as repression grew. One of the most notable examples was Saint-Denis mayor Bally Bagayoko, filmed as he protected students from more violence.

“The coming together of labor unions, the youth movement, and the parliamentary left-wing opposition forms a kind of ‘tortoise formation’ of mutual protection, making a broader collective momentum possible,” emphasized left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Solidarity statements came from youth organizations in other European countries, including Greece. “Young people are reacting massively to the cuts in education spending, given that the French government, as in the rest of the EU, is spending billions on military equipment at the expense of wages, healthcare and education,” the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) wrote in a statement, foreshadowing more student struggles to follow.

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At dawn on October 5, Israeli forces destroyed the martyrs’ memorial at Birzeit University.

Basil Farraj, an assistant professor of philosophy and cultural studies at Birzeit University, told BreakThrough News that the Israeli forces came to the campus around a week ago to capture photos of the memorial, sparking suspicions that they may attempt to destroy it.

Farraj suggests that the removal of the memorial came as part of Israel’s broader efforts to erase the Palestinian people’s collective memory and entrench cultural, social, and political hegemony over them, specifically at Birzeit University, due to its pioneering role in the Palestinian struggle against occupation.

“The assault on the memorial constitutes a cowardly attempt that will never defeat the resilience of the Palestinian collective memory. It also reflects the failure of the Zionist project in the face of the Palestinian people’s struggle,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Right to Education Campaign issued a statement, condemning the offensive, and clarifying that it was carried out on the first day of the new academic year.

“The destruction of a memorial to student martyrs is an assault on our collective memory, and our right to remember, preserve our history, and honor those who are part of Birzeit’s story,” the statement reads. “This attack comes within a broader pattern of scholasticide on Palestinian universities and the systematic disruption of academic life,” it continued.

The campaign urged “universities, academics, students, human rights organizations, and governments worldwide to demand accountability, protect Palestinian educational institutions, and take concrete action to defend the right to education and academic freedom.”

The university as a target

In recent years, the Israeli forces have intensified their crackdown campaign on Palestinian universities across the occupied West Bank. There has been a particular focus on Birzeit University in northern Ramallah due to its pioneering role in the Palestinian prolonged struggle against the occupation.

Not only have prominent scientists, political leaders, artists, and journalists graduate from the renowned Palestinian institution, but it has also long been called the “University of Martyrs” because dozens of its students and graduates have been killed at the hands of the Israeli military.

Countless students have been arrested and the university campus has faced frequent military raids since 2002.

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by Sofie Villa

At the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, thousands of complaints have been lodged by immigrant detainees regarding dangerous living conditions: abuse, inedible food, prolonged isolation, and medical neglect.

Despite more than 3,500 complaints being submitted to the Washington State Department of Health, GEO Group, operating the facility under a contract with ICE, has repeatedly refused to admit state inspectors.

Opened in 2004, the facility formerly known as the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) has a stated bed space capacity of 1,575 people—one of the largest immigration prisons in the country.

Its population hovered around 800 for a couple of years before rising sharply after Trump’s second term began, with immigrant rights groups estimating that 1,400-1,500 people were detained there in March.

Food budgeted at 97 cents per meal

Food, water and air quality account for more than 990 of these complaints. Detainees report finding burned plastic, metal string, rope, wood splinters and even worms in their meals. In one case, raw meat was served to a unit of 54 people. Some were so hungry they ate the food anyways—causing 15 of them to become sick. 

Other complaints describe drinking water as “foul” and that air coming from the vents smells like sewage. One detainee told immigrant rights group La Resistencia that food served at the NWIPC contained rat feces. 

The evidence of the poor quality of food and water is not limited to detainee complaints. During an unannounced inspection in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security found long-expired food and boxes of meat left open and exposed to the air. 

In May 2025, detainees reported stomach pain, bloating, and bloody diarrhea after eating collard greens served at the facility. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department later detected Bacillus cereus, a bacterium associated with food poisoning, in the supply of collard greens. 

A former GEO kitchen supervisor testified that the company budgeted only 97 cents per detainee per meal, and admitted that GEO could not provide adequate meals within that budget. In 2024, GEO reported more than $1.6 billion in revenue for its secure service facility operations in the U.S. 

The facility’s problems extend beyond food. More than 650 complaints concern unsanitary living conditions, including black mold in showers, rarely cleaned bathrooms and dirty floors. At one point, approximately 100 people reportedly had access to only two working bathrooms. 

Detainees also report receiving wet or dirty laundry, underwear previously worn by others, and bedding that had not been changed or cleaned after being used by people infected with COVID-19 and chickenpox.

Medical neglect accounts for more than 900 additional complaints. Detainees report untreated strokes, paralysis, internal bleeding, heart conditions and asthma. In one case, a man returned from a hospital with prescribed medication, but facility staff withheld it and gave him ibuprofen while his condition continued to deteriorate. 

The complaints also contain allegations of physical and sexual abuse by officers. 

Deaths and prolonged isolation

Reports also include one death by suicide, several suicide attempts, and extreme isolation. 

Mergensana Amar, a 40-year-old asylum seeker, committed suicide in November 2018 after nearly 11 months in the NWIPC.

Charles Leo Daniel was found dead in March 2024 after spending over three years combined in solitary confinement over two separate periods in 2020 and 2023.

University of Washington researchers also obtained 911 records documenting at least six suicide attempts at the facility between January 1 and March 18, 2024.

The UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules define any solitary confinement lasting longer than 15 consecutive days as “prolonged solitary confinement,” which is prohibited. UN human rights experts have warned that prolonged solitary confinement may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment—and can amount to torture. Charles Leo Daniel spent a combined 1,244 days in solitary confinement.

GEO repeatedly blocks state inspections

Despite thousands of complaints and mounting evidence, GEO has kept these conditions hidden from the public—the company has repeatedly blocked attempts by the state to examine conditions inside the facility. 

Washington health inspectors were denied entry 10 times, including twice after a federal appeals court affirmed the state’s authority to inspect private detention centers. 

Finally, on July 9, 2026, a federal judge intervened, ordering GEO to admit state inspectors into most of the facility, on the basis that complaints had raised “compelling concerns” for the health and safety of detainees. 

But federal findings extended beyond health and hygiene concerns, revealing that GEO also relied on detained workers to perform the labor necessary to operate the NWIPC, paying them as little as $1 per day. 

A federal jury found that GEO had violated Washington’s minimum-wage law, and the company was ordered to pay $17.3 million to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers.

Organizing to shut down the NWDC

Immigrant rights groups have been organizing to shut down the NWIPC for over a decade. La Resistencia recently joined with Tsuru for Solidarity outside the NWIPC to host a Solidarity Day on August 15, demanding the facility’s closure. 

La Resistencia was founded in 2014, after more than 1,200 detainees launched a hunger strike against their confinement and living conditions. Led by undocumented immigrants, La Resistencia has supported hundreds of hunger strikes and protests organized by detainees in the facility—including holding daily vigils in solidarity with a recent hunger strike. 

As organizing continues inside and outside the detention center, these groups are calling on the community to join the fight to shut down the NWIPC and end the deportation flights from King County International Airport. 

Sofie Villa is a Seattle-based Filipina artist and organizer with the Party for Socialism & Liberation and a social media content creator under the handle @darlingube.

Inside Tacoma’s ICE detention center: worm-infested food, suicide, and neglect

The inhumanity concealed behind the walls of the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) exposes an ICE detention system in which private companies profit from the imprisonment of immigrants in abusive facilities where their human needs, health, and dignity are effectively denied.

The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., seen from the air on Feb. 18, 2024, where Japanese American organizers from Tsuru for Solidarity joined local immigrant rights group La Resistencia in a protest to call for its shutdown. Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times via AP, File

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