With Manu Klimis (UCLouvain) and Lassané Yaméogo (CNRST – Burkina Faso), academic leaders of the Policy Supporting Programme (PSP) ‘Fragility & Resilience’, we begin our series of interviews on these inter-institutional research programmes aimed at providing support and decision-making assistance to the DGD (see the first Policy brief below). In the coming weeks, we will meet with the heads of the two other programmes: ‘Climate & Environment’ and ‘Social Protection, Inequality & Inclusive Growth’.
Today, we focus on the PSP ‘Fragility & Resilience’. This five-year programme brings together researchers from UCLouvain, UGent and KULeuven in Belgium, and the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (CNRST) in Burkina Faso. Its objective is to critically examine the evolving dynamics of fragility and resilience in contexts described as fragile or post-conflict, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sahel in particular, but also Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The researchers want to influence policy responses and, to this end, are engaging with policy makers and exploring the causes, experiences and impacts of these crises. By 2027, they will propose innovative strategies which, by being rooted in the affected populations, will strengthen resilience and address the systemic factors of fragility.
In this interview, Manu Klimis (UCLouvain) and Lassané Yaméogo (CNRST) discuss the framework and purpose of the research, while highlighting the value and richness of international academic collaboration in a rapidly changing political and security context, where every point of view counts.
What is the objective of the Policy Supporting Programmes (PSPs) supported by the Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGD)?
Manu Klimis: A Policy Supporting Programme (PSP) is a joint programme of ARES and VLIRUOS enabling these two institutions to conduct research in support of policy. It is a framework for collaboration between academic actors in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Flanders, also involving the Development Cooperation Administration (DGD) to support Belgian cooperation in a series of highly specific areas. The PSP is the current version of a funding instrument that has evolved several times over the past 20 years.
What does the Fragility and Resilience Programme (REFRACT) consist of?
Manu Klimis: REFRACT aims to support Belgian cooperation on issues related to fragility and resilience in various contexts described as fragile or post-conflict, involving countries that are partners of Belgian development cooperation. Fragility is a concept that has developed in international cooperation since the early 2000s and aims to describe and characterise countries in which it will be impossible or particularly difficult to carry out poverty reduction work, as envisaged by the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as the material and political conditions do not exist to achieve results in terms of development. This obviously includes countries in conflict, emerging from conflict or at risk of returning to conflict. It also concerns countries affected by political instability, whatever the reason.
Resilience is a concept that aims to characterise the response of populations and states to these situations of fragility.
So why REFRACT? Because it is not only about resilience and fragility, but also about action! Conceptual analyses are combined with field studies rooted in the reality of two geographical areas: the Sahel and the African Great Lakes Region. Of course, we are not ruling out working on other issues. Currently, for example, we have been asked to look at Ukraine. Within REFRACT, our research group comprises around fifteen specialists from Belgian universities, specifically UCLouvain, Ghent University and KULeuven. Internationally, our partners come from both research areas. These are the National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (CNRST) in Burkina Faso and the Higher Institute of Education (ISP) in Bukavu, DR Congo.
Together, we examine conflict dynamics and observe the escalation of crises, which are very important at the moment. Today, we must recognise that we are working in complex contexts that are either stabilised or appeared to be so but are now becoming unclear or even chaotic. This is certainly the case in eastern Congo at the moment.
From research to debate, a programme that responds to a changing world.
This PSP draws on the expertise of multiple partners. What are they working on? How is the project structured?
Manus Klimis: The programme is structured around five work packages plus one.
The first focuses on themes that are central to Belgian cooperation and global thinking on international cooperation in recent years. This is the famous HDP Nexus (humanitarian, development and peace). We are working on the challenges of strengthening coordination between humanitarian actors, development actors and security actors. The latter, in the strict sense, are the defence and security forces, the army, the police, customs, etc. But, more broadly, this can also include civil society and media actors who, at their level, ensure human security on a daily basis, at the closest level to citizens.
Our second area of research is localisation. In order for interventions to be relevant, the extremely specific characteristics of the different contexts in which they take place must be taken into account. We must avoid one size fits all approaches, which are too global and are thought to be transferable from one context to another. History has shown, sometimes tragically, that this is a very bad idea. But how can we develop mechanisms that are institutionally sound while also being highly relevant to specific contexts? This is the challenge we are working on.
The third area of work is civic space. We are witnessing a shrinking of civic space in various partner countries, while we are working according to the principle put forward by the United Nations of ‘leave no one behind’.
Our fourth area of focus is developing a reflection on the political economy of conflict and civil war. Here, the idea is to highlight new security actors or the reconfiguration of older ones. Traditionally, we imagine a landscape comprising government forces and rebel forces. Today, new security actors are emerging: citizen militias and private security companies, driven by commercial logic. Some actors may also be more or less dependent on another state. This is the case with Russian paramilitary groups, or with the M23 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rwanda has a major and obvious influence on the group, without however controlling it entirely. We analyse these new actors and their interaction on the ground.
The fifth focus is on gender. Gender is a truly cross-cutting issue in conflict contexts. This has been known for a long time, and this year we are celebrating the anniversary of the United Nations resolution on gender issues in security contexts. Women pay a heavy price in armed conflicts. We are conducting specific work on this issue.
And finally, I mentioned five areas of focus plus one. This additional area is methodological in nature. It raises many questions for us: how should we work in these contexts? How can we access research sites in conflict zones? How can we manage our sources of information in authoritarian or high-security contexts? How can we give our partners, who are more exposed locally or have less access to publishing channels or international seminars, the visibility they deserve? How can we work on a more equal and gender-balanced basis among researchers? These are important questions!
What are the main activities carried out during the first two years?
Manus Klimis: Policy support programmes work on two parallel tracks: research, which requires a long time to highlight all the nuances of a situation under analysis; and emergency response, which reacts to international events, as is the case with the current situation in eastern DRC. For the past two years, activities have focused on both of these areas. In the field of research, we write background notes. For example, we wrote a note on gender and conflict, which led to an associated event in November 2024. Another note by Alejandra Villanueva Ubillus (KULeuven) and Jan Van Ongevalle (KULeuven) concerns civic space and the principle of leave no one behind, supplemented by an explanatory video.
Lassané Yaméogo (CNRST) published a note on social representations of emigration from Burkina Faso through the prism of the radio programme ‘Allô diaspora’.
Furthermore, in response to current emergencies, together with Geoffroy Matagne (ULiège) and representatives of the DGD and Enabel, we participated in March 2025 in the Forum organised by the OECD Development Assistance Committee on issues of fragility and peace, security and development in the world.
We regularly organise ‘REFRACT-cafés’. These are more or less informal discussion meetings on a range of topics. In July 2024, we organised one on changing security dynamics and security landscapes in the Sahel.
In October 2024, the theme was the evolution of political regimes in the three countries of the Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. These three countries have experienced several coups d’état and are now governed in different ways by regimes that did not emerge from an electoral process.
Finally, in March 2025, we discussed the fight against corruption and the contribution of criminal law to this fight, particularly in Burkina Faso.
And on 7 April, we looked at the humanitarian, development and peace nexus, with a particular focus on the situation in Kivu.
The added value of a pluralistic and international vision
For you, Manu Klimis and Lassané Yaméogo, what is the added value and benefit of mobilising Dutch-speaking and French-speaking researchers in Belgium, as well as international partners?
Manus Klimis: Research is never a solitary endeavour. We therefore need research teams with different perspectives, expertise and networks in order to produce analyses that are as comprehensive and relevant as possible. In Belgium, there are not many of us working on these issues and we often cross paths in the field, in the Sahel and the Great Lakes. There are very few funding instruments available today for research that enable French-speaking and Flemish universities to engage in dialogue with each other. This programme is therefore an added value in itself.
The fact that we are partnering with researchers from our own research fields is obviously relevant. We are working within a framework that we sometimes describe, somewhat pompously, as decolonial. More concretely, we are in a real partnership, and research lends itself well to this because each party contributes and, in return, all the partner universities in Belgium, Burkina Faso and the DRC gain something.
Lassané Yaméogo, you are the Burkinabe partner in this PSP. What is your contribution to this project and what is the benefit for you in participating?
Lassané Yaméogo: My contribution is to ensure that there is a better understanding of the contexts so that we can discuss the concept of ‘fragility and resilience’, taking into account the concrete situations on the ground. Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and the Sahel in general are indeed currently in a context of fragility but also of resilience. Our presence on the ground allows us to provide specific insights to better understand the situation and supplement the case studies. This is one of the challenges of involving local researchers in this programme.
As for my interest, it is of course to be involved and to be able to collaborate internationally with other researchers. In Burkina Faso today, it is not easy to find resources to do research. Having international partners allows local researchers to collaborate and co-publish studies with their peers at the international level, and that is an important issue.
Furthermore, in a fragile country, our collaboration on studies helps to establish sustainable policies and projects. For example, the displacement crisis currently affecting the Sahel requires the deployment of projects. I would cite the example of Enabel, which is present in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where it is developing projects. It is important to question the sustainability of these projects at present. This is sometimes a difficult equation to solve. Within the framework of this project, our research will be able to guide interventions so that they can be part of a sustainable approach, taking into account the current context.
Do you have access to other research areas or sources of information besides international actors?
Lassané Yaméogo: Yes! It’s true that access to the field is becoming increasingly difficult, extremely difficult. Sometimes, at the local level, we develop solutions that allow us to get around the difficulty of accessing the field. Recently, while working on the displacement crisis in the Sahel, with a focus on Burkina Faso, it was almost impossible to deploy investigators in the field to meet with local populations. We used other strategies to collect this data remotely and feed it into our research and refine the contextual data.
In reality, this is the true role of the researcher: to produce knowledge that will enable decision-makers, politicians and development actors to use this knowledge efficiently to be effective in the field.
Given the current international context, is the project evolving? Does it need to be modified?
Manus Klimis: International events are reinforcing the relevance of this project, which, let’s not forget, is based on more than 20 years of expertise on issues of fragility. The situation is obviously regrettable, but it does not call into question the relevance of our work and research. It does create difficulties in terms of access to the field, which has been rendered inaccessible due to conflicts or visa issues. That said, in light of current international events, we will be working with Enabel and the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation within the FPS Foreign Affairs on two very concrete case studies, on the DR Congo and the Sahel.
The change in government priorities also raises questions for us, as the government agreement makes Belgium’s involvement conditional on a direct return for national interests. These national interests are not always defined in relation to the area concerned. This gives us some leeway, but it also creates a lot of uncertainty about how we will be able to continue our dialogue with the Ministry of Cooperation on these various issues.
Policy brief
Discover the first REFRACT PSP policy brief, authored by esteemed researcher Tanguy Quidelleur.
Title: L’échec d’une tentative de « stabilisation » au Sahel
Key Insights:
🔹 This brief, written in French, examines the failures of international interventions in the Sahel since 2012, highlighting how strategies aimed at stabilization have often exacerbated local violence and political polarization.
🔹 It analyzes the rise of authoritarianism and the role of West African actors in redefining power dynamics in the region.
Abstract:
“Since 2012, the Sahel has been at the center of a regional conflict characterized by the failure of international interventions and “stabilization” practices. Largely driven by imaginaries of state reconstruction and counterterrorism, these policies have ultimately accompanied local dynamics of violence and political polarization. The rise of authoritarianism, illustrated by recent coups d’état, reflects a rejection of interventionist models perceived as externally imposed and redefines power relations at the regional level. In this context, West African actors play a central role in reinterpreting governance practices but, more importantly, in fostering new alliances and intensifying competition among interventionist powers. This policy brief offers a sociological and critical analysis of the limitations of international strategies, highlighting the differentiated effects of interventions on local social and political structures. Finally, it explores the prospect of a renewed international engagement that is more attuned to local dynamics and ongoing sociopolitical transformations.”
The link to the policy brief
About the Author:
Tanguy Quidelleur holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Paris Nanterre. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne within the Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique (CESSP). Previously, he was a postdoctoral visiting fellow at the Conflict Research Group (CRG) at Universiteit Gent and at the l’Institut des sciences sociales du politique (CNRS – ENS Paris Saclay – University of Paris Nanterre). He has also taught at various French and Belgian universities. His research focuses on the impacts of armed conflicts on populations, the armed and political mobilizations that ensue, the dynamics of security privatization, international interventions, and the reconfigurations of the state. Since 2017, he has conducted several research fieldworks in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali.
Find out more
– The REFRACT website to follow the news and read publications
– REFACT on LinkedIn
