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The origins of the Sahel Alliance
In July 2017, France, Germany and the European Union, along with the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), launched the Sahel Alliance, an international cooperation platform to do more and better in the Sahel region. Since its launch, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, the European Investment Bank, Norway, Sweden, the United States and Canada have joined the initiative as full members.
The Sahel Alliance has also 9 observer members: Japan, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, the International Finance Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Ireland and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
The objective of the Sahel Alliance is to enhance the stability and global development of the region and, with this in mind, it is financing and coordinating over 1000 projects with the G5 Sahel countries to address all current challenges — security, demographic, economic and social.
Websites of Sahel Alliance members:
4 founding principles
By 2022, the Sahel Alliance wants to provide an appropriate and effective response to the challenges facing the G5 Sahel member countries based on 4 principles :
The fields of action
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Agriculture, rural development and food securityIn the Sahel region, two out of three inhabitants live off agriculture and breeding livestock. However, yields are low and over a third of crops are lost every year, so food insecurity is high and this situation is worsened by climate change. One of the Sahel Alliance’s priorities is the development of sustainable agriculture that is climate-resistant and able to reduce poverty and malnutrition.
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Decentralization and basic servicesAccess to drinking water, primary health care or social protection is still limited in the Sahel region, especially outside large cities. The region is also marked by a high rate of infant mortality. Bringing administrations closer to their citizens means decentralization, thanks to the transfer of budgetary management to local authority level. The Sahel Alliance is committed to reinforcing the needs of local authorities in terms of providing basic services.
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Education and youth employmentThe birthrate remains high in the G5 Sahel countries, while life expectancy is increasing. Creating economic opportunities for the population and, first and foremost, for young people, is a priority for the Sahel Alliance. This calls for more generalized access to teaching and job opportunities by 2022.
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Energy and climateThere is an electrification rate of around 20% in all the G5 Sahel countries; this is four times lower than the global average and two times less than the average of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Public action and innovation can help to reduce this gap. Since the region enjoys plentiful sunshine, the Sahel Alliance intends to increase the number of people with access to reliable, affordable and renewable electricity by 2022.
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GovernanceThe G5 Sahel member countries face a lack of institutional, territorial and financial governance. Citizens are demanding more justice and wish to participate more in the democratic life of their country. A combination of administrative hold-ups, corruption and poor resource redistribution means that citizens have little confidence in their government. Reinforcing the social contract in the G5 Sahel member countries by 2022 is a goal for the Sahel Alliance.
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The projects
From now until 2022, the Sahel Alliance and its members are taking action through more than 1000 projects. Discover a selection here :
All projects