The United Nations Special Envoy for the Sahel, Hiroute Guebre Sellassie, on September 19, 2014 in Abidjan, called on the Bank Group and held talks with President Donald Kaberuka on issues related to the implementation of the Sahel Initiative.
The meeting focused on the implementation of the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, the creation of a funding mechanism, as well as the participation of the Bank in the Technical Secretariat of the Ministerial Coordination Platform. The meeting also touched on the role of regional economic communities and expressed the need for better coordination of actions.
The African Development Bank considers the Sahel program a priority to contribute to the inclusive growth agenda in this region. As such, it has developed a special Program to Build Resilience in the Sahel (P2RS), covering Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad. Among others, the program aims to sustainably increase the productivity, production and incomes from agro-forestry-pastoral and fisheries activities in the Sahel region, at a cost estimate of UA 155 million.
The new Sahel Initiatives are a culmination of efforts borne out of the realization of the unique developmental challenges that the economies of the region face and the dire vulnerabilities of the populations, with respect to food and nutritional security.
In 2013, a number of high level and high profile efforts galvanized the global attention to the plight of the region, particularly with regard to food and nutritional security. These culminated in the high profile visits by the AfDB, the United Nations, the World Bank and many other major players in the international development arena.
