neighbouring country be considered, in order to draw useful lessons therefrom. But, experience also revealed that the danger may originate from another region(e.g.: terrorism in North Africa which slowly but steadily penetrated the Sahel and Sahara regions, or raging piracy in East Africa which has induced sea banditry in the Golf of Guinea). In this case, it would be wiser to search for a sub-regional security policy based on a common understanding of security danger and adherence to common standards in order to reinforce response capacities as against insecurity factors, whether internal or external, within the framework of a fruitful cooperation. Everywhere in the sub-region, there is increasing and pressing demand for security and peace by civil society organisations, elected people's representatives, local authorities, communities, citizens, in short by the populace as a whole. Meeting this demand is, in itself, a security imperative; · The second is that, today, the scope and complexity of insecurity factors, which are tied to the disturbing issues of poverty and misery, require a cross-cutting, global and integrated approach to the issue of security. In this connection, first and foremost, political will is quite essential. Such an approach also requires bringing up real problems, opting for a prospective vision while anticipating the most pertinent solutions and preferably choosing strategic planning to address security challenges. Even in this case, the chances of success depend on the possibility for each neighbouring country to take similar steps, hence the need for a collective security policy. 89