Locations
The Sahel Resilience Project
A unique entry point to address climate and disaster risks for resilience-building in West Africa and beyond
Lake Chad © UNDP/Adobe Stock
Funded by Sweden, this regional project aims to foster risk-informed solutions for sustainable development in Western Sahel and Lake Chad Basin countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal
Successive political and humanitarian crises have been eroding communities' ability in Western Sahel countries to withstand increasingly frequent shocks, protracted conflict, and poverty. COVID-19 has also been a stark reminder of the urgent need to jointly address the multiple risks that arise in fragile contexts such as in the Sahel region.
The initiative Strengthening Capacities for Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development (or Sahel Resilience Project) addresses regulatory, political, and budgetary frameworks of disaster risk governance at the regional and national levels in the Sahel region, to promote recovery processes that take into account the underlying risks of disaster and climate change; and urban risk management.
Budget: Phase 1 June 2019–May 2023, $8.5 million (Sweden) and $922,000 (UNDP); Phase 2 June 2023–March 2025, $ 7.3 million (Sweden) and $489,000 (UNDP)
UNDP, 2019. Strengthening capacities for disaster risk reduction and adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development, Project Document (Phase 1)
UNDP, 2023. Strengthening capacities for disaster risk reduction and adaptation for Resilience in the Sahel Region: fostering risk-informed solutions for sustainable development, Project Document (Phase 2)
Seven partner countries to the Sahel Resilience Project
Project Partners
UNDP partners with regional and national institutions – the African Union Commission (AUC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and national disaster management agencies – to implement disaster risk reduction activities with UN-Habitat, UNDRR, and UN Women, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), the university consortium PERIPERI U (secretariat hosted by Stellenbosch University), and the AGRHYMET Regional Centre.
At the national level, the Sahel Resilience Project aims to enhance disaster risk data, anticipatory action, and resilience-building in seven countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. The project remains steadfast in harmonizing disaster data systems across the Sahel region and aligning with national commitments to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as the Africa Programme of Action for implementing the Sendai Framework and the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Five areas of action
1. Data for decision-making: Increased capacity of tracking the domestication of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the implementation of the African Union’s Programme of Action in the Sahel region through enhanced data collection, analysis and reporting systems
2. Risk governance: Strengthened regional and multi-country regulatory, policy and budgetary frameworks for translating disaster and climate data into risk-informed development
3. Preparedness for recovery: Enhanced regional recovery and resilience-building processes that address underlying disaster and climate change risks and restore pathways to sustainable development in the Sahel countries
4. Resilient urban areas: Enhanced regional capacities for urban risk management
5. Regional engagement: Enhanced innovations and knowledge of risk-informed development through regional dialogue and South-South exchange.
