Tag: AGIR

Africa, Building resilience

Burkina Faso: Resilience building is underway

By Julia Wanjiru, OECD Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat

sahel-week-banner-blog-development-mattersBurkina Faso is a poor, land-locked West African country, with about 18.5 million people, a number that is increasing fast at 3.1% per year. Categorised as a Least Developed Country (LDC), Burkina Faso regularly ranks at the bottom end of the Human Development Index (183 in 2015). Poverty is mostly rural (50.7% rural poor compared with 19.9% urban poor). Food insecurity and malnutrition remain a chronic concern (Global Acute Malnutrition = 8.6%).

acute-malnutrition-rural-areas-burkina-fasoDespite the large number of people living in poverty and the fact that the people of Burkina Faso are among the most vulnerable in the world, they also are very resilient. Continue reading “Burkina Faso: Resilience building is underway”

Lia Beyeler
Africa, Building resilience

Towards a Better Understanding of the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR)

By Jennifer Sheahan, OECD Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat

Français suit

sahel-week-banner-blog-development-mattersThe time could not be more opportune to promote a better understanding of the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR) than now, during the 2016 Sahel and West Africa Week taking place from 12-16 December in Abuja, Nigeria. This is the single most important gathering of stakeholders to discuss food and nutrition security in the region. The week provides a fitting backdrop to review and discuss resilience action.

Between October and December 2016, 10.4 million people were identified as requiring food and nutrition assistance in the Sahel and West Africa. This situation is due to a combination of multiple, interconnected factors, including a lack of food availability, limited access to food and basic social services, and the effects of health and security issues. Over a number of decades, a proliferation of initiatives, projects and programmes of a development and humanitarian nature have emerged in the region to address food and nutrition insecurity. These initiatives, often implemented in an isolated, unco-ordinated manner, outside of any overarching framework, have led to a duplication of efforts, a less than optimal use of resources and a source of competition between organisations. Continue reading “Towards a Better Understanding of the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR)”

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