Editorial – June 2022
Madam, Sir, dear members, dear partners,
The month of May was punctuated by events and important meetings for the members of the Sahel Alliance. During the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Abidjan, crucial issues relating to environmental issues, sustainable agriculture and food security were at the centre of the discussions. In this context, the Sahel Alliance co-organised a side-event dedicated to the Great Green Wall on May 18 with the UNCCD and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The speakers made recommendations for concrete actions to promote greater synergies between the various initiatives and accelerate the Great Green Wall’s achievements.
On 12 May in Bamako, at the initiative of the Spanish Ambassador, the members of the Alliance met under the chairmanship of their spokespersons in Mali (Germany and the World Bank) to discuss the main challenges encountered in the implementation of the financed projects in a particularly complex political and security context, and to identify good practices and solutions that make it possible to continue the activities carried out for the benefit of the populations, while limiting the risks associated with these interventions. These discussions led to recommendations that will be presented at the next meeting of the Alliance’s Operational Steering Committee (OSC).
From 23 to 27 May, several members took part in the workshop of the G5 Sahel National Action Coordination Committees organised in Dakar by the Chadian Presidency of the G5 Sahel. This workshop, which brought together the secretariats of the G5 Sahel, the Sahel Alliance, the Sahel Coalition and the Partnership for Stability and Security in the Sahel (P3S), aimed to formulate recommendations for updating the N’Djamena roadmap. In a context where the security situation in Central Sahel continues to deteriorate, where the uncertainties and tensions linked to the political transitions underway are high, and where Mali has announced that it is suspending its participation in the G5 Sahel, we can only welcome this close collaboration between the various platforms working in the Sahel around shared objectives.
These dynamics on the ground are complemented by the assiduous work of the sectoral and cross-cutting groups of the Sahel Alliance, whose continuous exchanges with Sahelian actors enable progress to be made on priority issues for the region. I am thinking in particular of the work of the coordination group dedicated to agriculture and food security, which is particularly important at a time when the food and nutrition situation in the Sahel is becoming critical, as highlighted by the high-level meeting co-organised on 6 April in Paris by the Sahel and West Africa Club, the Food Crisis Prevention Network (FCPN) and the European Union. The Sahel Alliance’s next OSC, which will take place on 24 June in Bonn, will devote a significant part of its agenda to this priority, building on the conclusions of this meeting and on the work of the group dedicated to agriculture and food security. The discussion will take the form of a panel with high-level experts, such as Niger’s Minister Ali Beti, High Commissioner for the 3N initiative “Les Nigeriens Nourrissent les Nigeriens” (Nigeriens Feed Nigeriens), whom we will have the honour of welcoming in Bonn.
Allow me to conclude this editorial by informing you of a workshop for Sahel Alliance and G5 Sahel communication officers, which will be held in Brussels on 7 and 8 July at the initiative of the UCA. The work will focus in particular on the communication to be carried out towards the Sahelian populations (“B to C”), collaborations with the Sahelian media and the development of a joint campaign on the fight against climate change. We hope that this workshop, which is in line with the recommendations of the decision note on communication and visibility of the Sahel Alliance adopted at its 7th OSC (13/12/2021), will contribute to promoting a communication that is closer to the Sahelians, for and with them, that listens to their concerns and takes account of their potential.
Enjoy your reading,
Yours sincerely,
Adrien Haye