Editorial – March 2021
Madam, Sir, dear members, dear partners,
The beginning of 2021 was marked by two major events for the Sahel Alliance.
Firstly, our second General Assembly, which was held in N’Djamena on 15 February, on the sidelines of the 7th Summit of Heads of State of the G5 Sahel. Chaired by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Ms Arancha González Laya, it enjoyed a robust and high level participation from both our members and our partners, confirming the position of the Sahel Alliance as the main platform for the coordination of development policies in the Sahel. This unprecedented mobilisation reaffirms the attractiveness of the Alliance, which has grown in 3 years from 6 founding members to 25 members and observers, and shows that our commitment to Sahelian partners is bearing fruit and is recognised at the highest political level.
This second edition was an opportunity to highlight the strength of the partnership established between the Sahel Alliance and the G5 Sahel; the growing commitments of our members (doubling of the number of projects financed, amounts committed and disbursed within 3 years, with a portfolio of projects amounting to more than 20 billion euros in 2020) which translate into concrete and tangible impacts for the beneficiaries of the projects financed; a strong convergence with our partners on the priority areas of action: increasing coordination and concentration efforts on vulnerable areas, supporting the redeployment and maintenance of the State and essential services, intensifying dialogue on the needed public policy reforms, supporting the G5 countries’ response to the health, economic and social challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, strengthening support in certain priority sectors (governance and rule of law, education and youth, gender equality and defence of women’s rights, climate change, food security, private sector). It was also an opportunity to welcome Norway, Ireland and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, which have joined the Alliance as full members and observers respectively, and to announce the forthcoming launch of a new financing instrument for the G5 Sahel Alliance, with an initial budget of 50 million euros. It was preceded, on 11 February, by an event dedicated to the Sahelian private sector, co-organised with the Economic Coalition in the Sahel, the Union of Chambers of Commerce and the Union of Employers of the G5 Sahel, recognising its crucial character for stability and development.
At the close of the General Assembly, a Declaration was adopted and Minister Laya was able to present its recommendations to the G5 Summit of Heads of State. This declaration, the declarations and thematic notes annexed to it as well as the speeches delivered can be consulted on the web page of the General Assembly.
The General Assembly came on the heels of another important event for the Alliance: the publication of the report on the results achieved after 3 years of existence, presented on 19 January during a digital conference, which you can find online via our website. Designed to respond to the need for accountability towards our partners, beneficiaries and public opinion, and drawn up in partnership with the FERDI Sahel Chair, this report provides an assessment of our collective action, shows the concrete impacts of the projects financed for the populations and highlights collectively developed innovative approaches. It is available in a fully web-based multimedia version, and accompanied by several new communication and accountability tools: the public data portal of the Sahel Alliance, which you can discover here, a completely redesigned and updated presentation brochure, a FAQ… All these tools can be found in this newsletter.
Kind regards
Adrien Haye