admin3, Author at Home - UNISS

UN_UNISS_Report_9-e1614340983121-300x300

Changing The Fate Of The Sahel – Archive

The social, economic, security and environmental challenges facing the Sahel would almost make one forget the immense opportunities offered by this region. Resources and wealth whose development has the power to change the fate of Sahelians.

At 18, Mamadou is about to embark on the long and tortuous journey to Europe. He is well aware of this, he will have to endure the hell of a crossing which may cost him his freedom and his life, but he is determined. Determined to escape a life of hard work that leaves neither his family nor him free from need. Determined not to be a victim of terrorism or an executioner who would spread death and desolation in the name of religion or ethnicity. Determined to have a chance to live with dignity, to escape fear and to help those close to them.

The daily life of Fatou, housewife and mother of four children, is punctuated by domestic work. Since being taken out of school to be given in marriage, she has led a life of no respite that gives her neither the satisfaction of living to her full potential nor the financial independence to care for her family. In a world where he is not given the freedom to make his voice heard or the opportunity to work, his hopes for a better life are slim. Will it be so for his daughters? Will the promising future that school can offer them vanish to give way to a gloomy tomorrow?

Just like Mamadou and Fatou, in the Sahel millions of young people and women wishing to improve their living conditions and those of their community are deprived of the opportunity to realize their full potential. Yet the Sahel is rich in potential which, if properly exploited, can help to establish stability and prosperity. These riches include solar energy, imposing quantities of natural resources, the possibility of giving new life to agriculture and a cultural and historical legacy to the Sahelian youth as well as to all humanity.

The populations of the Sahel will be both actors and beneficiaries of the positive spin-offs from the exploitation and optimal management of resources. Thus, the UN Support Plan for the Sahel recommends offering young people and women like Mamadou and Fatou, the opportunity to participate in the development of these resources so that their activity allows improve their well-being and that of their loved ones. With massive and diversified investments, better governance of this wealth and the involvement of populations, it is possible to eradicate poverty, reduce insecurity and allow the Sahel to regain its place in the concert of nations.

The Sahel is also a glorious past which gives it a special place in history. During the Middle Ages, this region saw the birth and prosperity of powerful, well-organized empires in which different ethnic groups coexisted in peace and abundance. Empires open to the world which provided, through trans-Saharan trade, the gold necessary for global growth. Worthy children of the Sahel in love with knowledge, anxious to preserve human dignity and endowed with a pronounced taste for discovery have built cities of knowledge like Timbuktu, abolished slavery through the Mandé Charter and braved the Atlantic to arriving in America long before Christopher Columbus.

These exploits and this rich history should serve as inspiration as initiatives and possibilities abound to change the destinies of 300 million people such as Fatou and Mamadou.

Statement by Mr. Abdoulaye Mar DIEYE, UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, at the UNDP Led High-Level Methodology Workshop for Envisioning an Alternative Narrative on Farmers-Herders Dynamics in Africa, Abuja Nigeria, 08 February 2023

Colleagues and friends

The subject we are reviewing during this workshop is certainly one of the most complex political and developmental issues the Sahel region and other parts in Africa, including the Horn & Central Africa, are facing today.
When one observes the various trends in the region one would see that the herders – farmers tension is one of the most exploding trends; recent statistics of ACLED (The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) shows a rate of increase of registered tensions by 7 % per year since 2012, in the Sahel countries.
It is out of frustration of “no-effective global & durable solution in sight” that UN Senior Management has called for a critical strategic review of the way we are addressing the issue, using multiple & collective expertise, to pause, take stock, reflect, and guide, all actors, towards a sustainable exit out of the “tensions” we are seeing in (Read more…)

The International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF)- The Sahel and West Africa Club ( SWAC)

joint session on Natural resource governance (NRG) and fragility in the Sahel

Remarks by M. Abdoulaye Mar DIEYE

United Nations Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel

Virtual session, 20 April 2022, 13.30 CET

Dear colleagues and partners,

I would like to start by thanking INCAF and SWAC for this very timely meeting: natural resources are both a critical challenge and opportunity in the Sahel. On one hand, the effects of climate change are further exacerbating conflicts and impacting structural root causes of conflicts linked to the access, management and use of natural resources. At the same time, the Sahel is endowed with more potential for renewable energy such as solar and wind, than other regions of the world. Renewable energy technologies provide a unique opportunity to increase access to reliable, affordable and sustainable clean energy and boost socio-economic growth in the Sahel through innovative livelihood opportunities. The growth of rural economies, the resilience of the populations against climate change and insecurity, are critical for the stability of the region. We also need to harness the abundant natural resources available in the Sahel (such as oil, natural gas, gold, phosphates, diamonds, copper, iron ore, bauxite, biological diversity and precious woods, among many other assets).

The crisis in Ukraine is sending all of us a critical reminder of our interdependence to critical grains and cooking oils and has had a great impact on the Sahel countries. It has shown us the need for strengthened governance and diversified economies in the region.

As the report clearly states, natural resources in the Sahel face mounting pressures.

While the population is projected to go from the current level of 91 million to 196 million by 2050, environmental degradation and climate change have had a significant impact on ecosystems, leaving fragility take over in many areas, especially in vulnerable zones and at the borders.

Many countries continue to suffer from poor governance, including governance of renewable resources, especially in those areas.

While it is important to focus on the symptoms, it is crucial to look at fragility dynamics and the role of development to address those challenges.

We need to look at how we can address conflict drivers and climate-related risks with a peacebuilding lens and ensure that all conflict analysis is climate-informed. And articulate and prioritize a strong prevention approach that would identify and address future cross-border hot-spots, where investments are most needed to reverse the negative effects of conflict and climate change on local communities.

Ahead of COP 27, we have a unique opportunity to think and push for synergies and opportunities to address the impact of climate change and peacebuilding objectives together. Beyond short to medium-term focus at the community-level, we need to look at identifying linkages with institutional policies, national and regional frameworks, and strategies to connect local and national levels, with regional and cross-border levels.

Preventing and mitigating fragility is key to making progress towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to the international community’s broader efforts to promote peace and prosperity.

Investment priorities should include financing livelihood, climate-resilient income-generating activities, delivery of household supplies and goods, and small-scale basic infrastructure in conflict-affected communities. We need to promote multi-sectoral investments to increase access to socio-economic infrastructure and services, particularly water and sanitation, local economic development interventions, and environmental and natural resource management.

National and regional data and monitoring, as well as regional coordination and collaboration, also need to be supported to pave the way for future regional programming and larger-scale investments.

Effective strategies to improve renewable natural resources governance have focused on land rehabilitation and water management. Projects such as the World Food Programme Cash for Assets in Niger have increased the number of hectares under cultivation in targeted areas. Successful strategies involve local communities and need to be scaled-up to the national or regional level.

To ensure sustainability of any investment, there is a need for strong alignment with regional strategies (UNISS/G5 Sahel/ECOWAS) and partnerships with regional organizations as well as with in-country partners and within the region that can help shape climate-informed interventions (universities, think tanks, youth-led climate activists’ groups).

Climate security projects, such as those aimed to reduce tensions between farmers and herders, should seek to target deeper grievances, such as those related to land governance and marginalization beyond local-level conflict resolution.

Development is key to address the grievances, root causes and prevent crises. This is the objective of the UNISS and its UN Support Plan for the Sahel.

We tend to only focus on security aspects and humanitarian needs while the Sahel is blessed with abundant human, cultural and natural resources, offering tremendous potential for rapid growth.

In terms of natural resources, the Sahel is one of the richest regions in the world, abundant with oil, natural gas, gold, phosphates, diamonds, copper, iron ore, bauxite, biological diversity and precious woods, among many other assets. These natural endowments offer immense value for economic diversification, value-chain development and livelihoods.

However, there are growing concerns about the transparency and governance of other resources such as extractive industries as well as the generation and use of revenues. Extractive resources such as uranium in Niger and oil in Chad, are extremely important export commodities for the countries of the Sahel. It is high time for development cooperation to do more to foster a properly functioning domestic governance regime for Niger’s uranium mines or Chad’s oil sector.

Practitioners, donors and academics have suggested a number of strategies or interventions to improve the effectiveness of extractive resources management. These include improving the flow of information about extractives; greater disclosure of information and compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative; and building the capacity of government staff to monitor compliance with regulations.

Natural resource governance is an important entry point for responses given the centrality of land, water, biomass, and gold in Sahel livelihoods. If these resources are well-managed, it can not only help address fragility, but also deliver significant development pay-offs.

This is why the UN Support Plan for the Sahel (priority 4) aims at: “Building resilience to climate change, improving management of natural resources, and decreasing malnutrition and food insecurity.”

Given the scale of natural resource challenges and the speed of demographic and socioeconomic changes, it is essential to achieve a better shared understanding of natural resource governance issues in relation to fragility.

Sahel countries have already gone a long way in developing natural resource governance frameworks, yet implementation remains challenging. Their deficits have a strong influence on fragility, and are closely connected to other fragility drivers, including food insecurity, poverty, corruption, insecurity and marginalization.

In a context where there are little alternative options to mitigate food insecurity and support livelihoods besides natural resources, adaptation to climate change should be central to any policy that seeks to address conflict in the Sahel.

Unless the effects of climate change on livelihoods are mitigated, the spread of poverty will push increasingly desperate people into the hands of opportunistic groups, such as Jihadists.

Among the policy orientations for NRG stakeholders listed in the report, we can retain the followings:

scaling up good NRG practices across Sahel territories,
integrating links between NRG and fragility in Humanitarian, Development and Peace (HDP) efforts,
investing in the next generation of NRG mechanisms and increasing support for development and regulation of ASM.

Evidence-based dialogue is essential to improve NRG in the Sahel and prepare for the future of a Sahel in transition. We need more evidence-based research and partnership with local universities, think tanks, and civil society organizations to further land this agenda in countries.

To push more innovation, climate security projects can establish innovation labs to empower young peacebuilders, human rights defenders and climate activists to join forces and co-create bottom-up solutions and advocacy campaigns. Projects can also focus on developing foresight analyses to address upcoming climate-related security risks.

We need to call upon the international community for more knowledge sharing, data and collaboration between Sahelian governments and regional organisations, and across HDP actors.

The United Nations stand ready to accompany governments, local actors and all stakeholders to improve natural resource governance in the Sahel through.

I will now give the floor to Laurent and wish you fruitful discussions on how to support NGR to address the root causes of fragility in the Sahel.

Thank you.

Statement by M. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, United Nations Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel at the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission Meeting

Madame chair

I wanted first to welcome your efforts to bring in all local voices , despite the technical difficulties. As the Ambassador of The Gambia put it, this an illustration of the challenges the region is facing; and the support required especially in digitalisation.

2. This meeting illustrates the imperative that we be driven by 3 powers :

i. The power of context and proximity ; hence the criticality to adequately support the Territorial Action Plan.

ii. The power of the nexus ; calling for greater integration and breaking the silos

iii. The power of solidarity ; articulated around scaled up and predictable funding.

3. This meeting is also an invitation , as eloquently expressed by the Ambassador of Cameroun, that we enter in “ le temps de l’Action ” . In that perspective , I want to give the reassurance that in the framework of the re-invigorated United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, – UNISS , UN agencies will get into the Temps de l’Action and will be driven by the 3 powers I mentioned above.

4. Let me express our appreciation for PBC members recognition of the work of the UN on stabilization , under the leadership of UNDP, with the support of partners including Germany, UK, EU, Sweden , Netherlands, African Deployment Bank .

5. Over the past 2.5 years, thanks to the regional stabilization programme, more than one hundred thousand displaced people have been able to voluntarily return ( with support of LCB governments) to stabilised sites across the LCB Region. But we still have more than 3 million displaced in the region. Stabilization provides a strong bridge between our humanitarian efforts and long term development work.

6. Stabilization allows communities to move from humanitarian needs to recovery and longer-term development and peace. Stabilization creates the conditions for the resumption of economic activity, provision of basic services and extension of state authority.

7. It is then one of the most powerful tool to realize the Civilian surge that Heads of State in the G5 Sahel called for during their 2021 Summit in Ndjamena. I trust the High level Meeting next week on Peace Building will provide avenues to elevate our joint support on stabilization .

Spécialiste résilience au Programme Alimentaire Mondial (PAM), Rama Leclerc alerte sur les défis auxquels font face les pays du Sahel dans le secteur de la sécurité alimentaire et de la protection de l’environnement

Statement of Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye at the Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on climate-related peace and development challenges in the Sahel

“IT IS URGENT TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND HELP COMMUNITIES ADAPT

What are currently the most acute challenges in the Sahel in the sector of food security and environmental protection in the Sahel?

The G5 Sahel countries face multiple and interrelated challenges with high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, unequal access to basic services, poorly integrated markets, growing insecurity, an environment threatened by the degradation of soils, recurrent droughts and irregular precipitation.

Climate change is considered a factor aggravating shocks and stressors. For example, the increasingly limited availability of livelihoods, combined with demographic pressure, can disrupt the delicate balance between farmers and herders who share water and pastures. There are indeed a lot of pressures on the earth. The potentially devastating consequences reinforce the urgency to address the root causes of climate change and help communities adapt .

Statement of Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye at the Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on climate-related peace and development challenges in the Sahel

Excellencies,

Dear colleagues,

I am particularly pleased to join you today from Dakar to shed light on the situation in the Sahel.

I would like to seize the opportunity to thank the Vice-Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, HE Ambassador Jose Blanco as well as ASG Elizabeth Spehar, who is online with us, and PBSO colleagues, for organizing this timely meeting. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues from IOM , FAO, and UNOWAS ; our civil society briefers from Niger and Mali as well as representatives of the G5 Sahel (ES Eric Tiare), AU (Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed) and EU (Envoy Emanuela Claudia Del Re). The list of briefers today demonstrates the tremendous coordination effort and strong partnerships that are required to ensure positive outcomes in the Sahel.

Excellencies,

These are grave times! The Sahel, object of our discussion today, is going through added stresses, not only at the country and regional level, but also from an international perspective.

On one hand, the recent military transitions in the region have been further restricting democratic and political spaces. The ECOWAS sanctions on Mali, if not backed by a strong humanitarian clause and sturdy mitigating measures will exercise added pressure on an already dire economic and social situation in the entire region.

On the other hand, the current war in Ukraine is already pushing upwards, oil, gas and food prices worldwide and will undoubtedly have a strong impact on the Sahel countries. It will likely create a crowding-out effect on humanitarian funding, singularly for the Sahel, where humanitarian needs are dramatically underfunded to the tune of a low 20-25 % rate.

These alarming facts make this PBC meeting all the more timely and I want to thank you all for your commitment to the Sahel and your leadership in addressing the root causes of the crisis in the region.

The situation calls for uplifting responses and solidarity.

- First, it is crucial to preserve the political unity of the G5 Sahel and reaffirm its central role in addressing the many challenges facing the region. In doing, so we must elevate our programmatic partnership with the G5 Sahel; through a greater alignment of our collective support to its Priority Investment Programme (PIP).

Noting the importance and centrality of the G5 Sahel, I would like to draw your attention to the need to address the Sahel “à geometrie variable”: indeed, we need to look at the region from a wider perspective, by including in the political and security parameters, the Nouakchott Process and the Accra Initiative.

- Second, it is instrumental to intensify our structural funding to Sahel countries in the spirit of Germany’s Marshall Plan with Africa, which aims at promoting innovation and harnessing the potential of Africa’s youth. The drama of the Sahel is that overall investment is chronically low; an average of 16-18 % of GDP; while a minimum floor of 24 % of overall investment ratio would be required.

In that respect, structural investments like the Africa Union Great Green Wall Initiative and the African Development Bank Desert-to-Power initiative will need stronger support for scaled up implementation.

- Third, successful ongoing initiatives implemented under the framework of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) need to be upscaled. Among these, let me mention the joint FAO-IOM initiative on transhumance and conflict prevention supported by the Peacebuilding Fund, the UNDP-led initiative on stabilization in the Lake Chad Basin and recently in the Liptako-Gourma region, the UN Rome based Agencies’ support on resilience in the Sahel. All these initiatives were highly praised by the G5 Sahel Heads of State and Government during the N’Djamena Summit in February 2021.

What we’re learning from these initiatives is that the peacebuilding fund is a helpful tool through which we can test new approaches by putting prevention at the center of the humanitarian/development/peacebuilding nexus and by investing in the meaningful participation and empowerment of women and youth, targeting at-risk groups in the border and cross-border areas which are traditionally neglected.

Excellencies,

We need to act with a sense of urgency and solidarity. Therefore, we need to invest in the most powerful engine that would transform the Sahel to a better and stable version, and that is education. There won’t be any peaceful and prosperous Sahel without our youth, and let’s not forget the importance of investing in young girls. The Sahel needs all hands on deck and in many configurations we have seen how women and girls act as a driving force.

Investing in youth is not only good economies and climate smart; but it is a down payment for a stable, peaceful and most promising future. This then should be at the heart of the Peace Building Fund, singularly in the Sahel.

Thank you.

AfDB Desert to Power initiative powering up across Sahel

The African Development Bank has approved the Desert to Power G5 Sahel Financing Facility covering Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

Through the facility, the Bank will commit up to $379 million in financing and technical assistance over the next seven years. The Desert to Power G5 Financing Facility is meant to help the five countries adopt a low-emissions power generation pathway by using the region’s abundant solar potential.

All posts by : admin3

Changing The Fate Of The Sahel – Archive

Changing The Fate Of The Sahel

Changing The Fate Of The Sahel – Archive

Statement by Mr. Abdoulaye Mar DIEYE, UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, at the UNDP Led High-Level Methodology Workshop for Envisioning an Alternative Narrative on Farmers-Herders Dynamics in Africa, Abuja Nigeria, 08 February 2023

Statement by Mr. Abdoulaye Mar DIEYE, UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, at the UNDP Led High-Level Methodology Workshop for Envisioning an Alternative Narrative on Farmers-Herders Dynamics in Africa, Abuja Nigeria, 08 February 2023

Colleagues and friends

The International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF)- The Sahel and West Africa Club ( SWAC)

The International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF)- The Sahel and West Africa Club ( SWAC)

Statement by M. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, United Nations Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel at the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission Meeting

Statement by M. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, United Nations Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel at the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission Meeting

Spécialiste résilience au Programme Alimentaire Mondial (PAM), Rama Leclerc alerte sur les défis auxquels font face les pays du Sahel dans le secteur de la sécurité alimentaire et de la protection de l’environnement

Statement of Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye at the Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on climate-related peace and development challenges in the Sahel

“IT IS URGENT TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND HELP COMMUNITIES ADAPT

What are currently the most acute challenges in the Sahel in the sector of food security and environmental protection in the Sahel?

Statement of Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye at the Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on climate-related peace and development challenges in the Sahel

Statement of Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye at the Peacebuilding Commission Meeting on climate-related peace and development challenges in the Sahel

AfDB Desert to Power initiative powering up across Sahel

AfDB Desert to Power initiative powering up across Sahel

The people of west Africa are facing an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis

The people of west Africa are facing an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Contact Us

Useful Links

Newsletter