Locations
A 5,000-kilometre strip of land beneath the Sahara Desert, the Sahel region stretches all the way from Africa's Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. In the past decade, the resilient people of this vast region have lived through the consequences of armed conflict, political instability, poverty. Food insecurity currently affects nearly 26 million people. The COVID-19 pandemic further plunged an additional six million people into extreme poverty in the central Sahel just, while gender-based violence is on the rise.
Despite these intertwined challenges, the Sahel is endowed with abundant human, cultural and natural resources, offering immense potential for growth and shared prosperity. It is located atop some of the continent's largest aquifers and holds huge potential for renewable energy. With more than two-thirds of the Sahel population under the age of 25 – and with young women and girls making up more than 50% of the population – the region has enormous potential for innovative development.
The New Programmatic Offer of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the Sahel region –“A Regeneration” – Implementing the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) – aims to help unlock this untapped socio-economic potential. UNDP has taken an unsparing look at the approach to development in the region and strengthened its added-value contribution to the UNISS’ implementation. In close consultation with stakeholders, UNDP has reframed its lens to better focus on transformative actions, tailor its approaches to local context and mapped a pathway to identify and scale up homegrown solutions carved by Sahelians who are driving transformative peace and development efforts in the region.
“A Regeneration” is the translation of UNDP’s development approach to support Sahelians deliver on their own agenda to transform the region. The development approach reframes the engagement in the Sahel from a crisis lens to one of opportunity and investment. Focused and scaled up investments in governance, renewable energy and youth are expected to yield massive transformation in the region. Why? Because Governance, at the heart of engineering social contracts, is the bedrock of inclusive and resilient development. Young people, who constitute 65% of the Sahelian population, are the future leaders and a powerful growth engine. Renewable Energy – through UNDP’s Climate promise - can propel the realization of all SDGs. Anchored on the principles of prevention, stabilization, transformation, and sustainability,
A Regeneration aims to scale up proven development models in varied Sahel contexts, whether in or post conflict, at risk or stable environments. It is an approach that, we believe, will help plant the seeds of regeneration in the Sahel and chart a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous future for its population.
In all sectors, we will draw on our invaluable partnerships and platforms to help chart a new trajectory for the people of the Sahel, from delivering aid towards ending need, with a view to help realize the Sahel promise.
Under the leadership of the UN Deputy Secretary-General, the global launch to be held on 9 December 2021 will feature a 120-minutes virtual program in English and French, hosted by UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The programme will also feature the UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel, Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye and the President of Niger, Mr. Mohamed Bazoum will launch “A Regeneration”.
The online global launch will be the culmination of a series of local events in 10 Sahel countries, which showcase the region as a land of opportunities. The event will present to the world UNDP’s scaled up action in support of a “Regeneration” of the Sahel. It is expected to attract hundreds of participants from across the region and around the world, including UN Member States, local authorities and communities, youth, and women groups, civil society organizations, private entrepreneurs, NGOs, as well as representatives from various UN entities.
Artistic performances and testimonies will be interwoven with keynote messages and grassroot interventions from various stakeholders and partners across the Sahel. The event will feature high-level statements and a presentation of “A Regeneration”. In a second segment, a moderated conversation will allow for an in-depth discussion of opportunities and solutions by renowned Sahelians and tailored to the Sahel context.
Speakers:
H. E. Mr. Mohamed Bazoum, President of Niger
Mr. Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator (Host)
Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel
Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Regional Bureau Director for Africa
H. E. Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, African Union
H. E. Emanuela Claudia Del Re, Special Representative for Sahel European Union
Ms. Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO – Sustainable Energy for All
H. E. Mr. Issa Doubragne, Minister of Economy, Chad
Mr. Tony Elumelu, Founder Tony Elumelu Foundation
Ms. Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of Tony Elumelu Foundation
Dr. Alioune Sall, Executive Director, African Futures Institutes
Mr. Ousman Touray, Ambassador of The Pan African Heritage World
Ms. Rag Ragnimwindé Eldaa Koama, Founder of IMPROV’YOU
Date: 09th December 2021 9:00 – 11:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Language: English, French (simultaneous interpretation provided)
Registration: Required from the link below.
Documentation :
- Global Launch Event Concept Note
- Session II: Concept note – Towards the Sahel regeneration
Contact: Eve Sabbagh, Strategic Communication Specialist, UNDP New York (eve.sabbagh@undp.org)
