Sonja Nietz participated in the 2019 Workshop “The Sustainable Development Goals and Security“, organized by the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) in cooperation with the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA), Stellenbosch University, Saldanha Campus, South Africa. The 2019 Workshop that took place from 6 to 13 April, brought together 20 scholars, UN officers and other practitioners. During five different panels – conflict and violence, human security, refugees, migration and maritime security – the participants presented important issues related to the workshop’s topic. Focal point of reference was the fact that the absence of a more nuanced security-oriented approach in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has raised critical questions. Against this background of security and prevention or mitigation of challenges the workshop participants were asked, how the UN in cooperation with other intergouvernmental organizations, business and civil society organizations, should (or can) manage and secure spaces in order to allow for sustainable development. Sonja Nietz raised the issue of the G5 Sahel Joint Force and analyzed current actions for tackling the deteriorating situation in Mali and the broader Sahel. She argued that there is a strong need to rethink current policies and initiate a security and development policy that is based on a human security paradigm, if the SDGs is to be realized in this region.