tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56004904759942571072024-03-14T10:24:48.534+00:00SahelNOWOne voice for the Sahel: Communities, UN Agencies, NGOs & other partners
working together for a response to the Sahel crisis/ Une voix pour le Sahel: Communautés, agences des NU, ONGs et partenaires travaillant ensemble pour une réponse à la crise du SahelAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431683290203823992noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-45622901178098458702014-05-06T16:20:00.000+00:002014-05-06T16:20:09.346+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uYt4-Cpq6a4/U2kIfwejJxI/AAAAAAAAAuU/6f-QWzzOXEc/s1600/pht+z+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uYt4-Cpq6a4/U2kIfwejJxI/AAAAAAAAAuU/6f-QWzzOXEc/s1600/pht+z+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" height="157" width="200" /></a></div>
<h2>
Renewed support needed for agricultural support in the Sahel </h2>
<h4>
By Jose Luis Fernandez, </h4>
<h4>
Coordinator, FAO’s Regional Resilience, Emergency and Rehabilitation Office for West Africa/Sahel (REOWA)</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />On 3 February 2014, humanitarian partners launched the 2014-2016 Strategic Response Plan for the Sahel in FAO premises in Rome. The launch of the Plan was the culmination of a regional process in which hundreds of partners delivering humanitarian aid in the Sahel countries have come together to assess needs and formulate concerted plans and a unified funding request to UN Member States and donor organizations.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For 2014, the Plan includes response strategies to cover the most humanitarian needs of millions of people still affected by food insecurity and malnutrition in the region, including agricultural response. On 2 May 2014, only 13 percent of the required funds for the agricultural component of this appeal were received. </div>
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTaDJSMw-HM/U2kIihq8cNI/AAAAAAAAAuc/72nIqpkK7bI/s1600/24749_9017+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTaDJSMw-HM/U2kIihq8cNI/AAAAAAAAAuc/72nIqpkK7bI/s1600/24749_9017+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a>What are the immediate consequences of this lack of funds? </h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The lacks of adequate funding for emergency agricultural and livelihood support in the Sahel is preventing vulnerable communities who rely on small-scale agriculture to produce their own food. Millions of men and women farmers have to face the next main agricultural campaign (May-October 2014) with depleted or low stocks of food crop seeds, and will therefore cultivate reduced areas of land, or will not even be able to plant at all. Herds are extremely weakened by the lack of adequate food due to deficits in previous months fodder productions. As a consequence they are very vulnerable to diseases and to death. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Vulnerable families will rely entirely on markets in the coming months as the lean season, also known as the ‘hunger season’, has already begun. In absence of assistance, the most vulnerable households are forced to reduce quantity and quality of daily meals, reduce their investment in quality inputs, sell their productive assets and become indebted. These negative coping mechanisms threaten their ability to respond to shocks in the short, medium and long term. In particular vulnerable households will be confronted to possible droughts, floods or insecurity in the months to come with low level of adaptative capacities. </div>
<br />
<h4>
We can make a difference</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />In the past years, millions of vulnerable households have not benefited from adequate support. It is refraining communities from becoming resilient and protecting their livelihoods. Without a renewed commitment of donors and partners to support food production and protect livelihoods, a further deterioration of food security and nutrition can be expected throughout 2014, requiring long-lasting and costly food assistance. In the coming months, other opportunities shall be seized to support food production and protect livelihoods in the region with support to livestock, flood plain recession and off-season agriculture. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The food security challenge in the Sahel shall not be forgotten. The remaining needs of the region are enormous and donors and partners still have the opportunity in the coming months to support households affected by food insecurity with support to livestock, flood plain recession and off-season agriculture. Increasing support to the agricultural sector could help vulnerable households break the cycle of poverty and hunger, instead of keeping them dependent on food assistance.</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.fao.org/"><span style="color: #b45f06;">www.fao.org</span></a><br /> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/FAOnews" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">FAO on Twitter</span></a> <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-17239131436262954562014-04-10T11:22:00.000+00:002014-04-10T11:22:12.565+00:00<h2 class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kMcDg2DLbuw/U0Z94JTS_1I/AAAAAAAAAuE/O7hxcGEQwCw/s1600/ECHO+logo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kMcDg2DLbuw/U0Z94JTS_1I/AAAAAAAAAuE/O7hxcGEQwCw/s1600/ECHO+logo1.png" height="176" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fkNHUKXuH3g/UZu1ndms8ZI/AAAAAAAAAaM/noJZc9D-lXE/s1600/Logo%252520ECHO.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a><o:p>Malnutrition Sans Frontières </o:p></h2>
<h4 class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>Urgence quasi-permanente dans les zones frontalières du Sénégal et de la Mauritanie</o:p></h4>
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #272627;"><o:p></o:p></span> </h3>
<h4 class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #272627;"><o:p>Par le service humanitaire de la Commission européenne (ECHO) </o:p></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #272627;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #272627;"><o:p>Dans les régions sahéliennes du Matam (Sénégal) et du Guidimaka (Mauritanie), de part et d’autre du fleuve Sénégal, la malnutrition aiguë des jeunes enfants dépasse largement les seuils d’urgence. De plus, ces mêmes régions ont été affectées par un manque de pluies et une réduction de la production agricole en 2013 aggravant une insécurité alimentaire sévère qui touche désormais 20% de la population. Ces taux sont comparables aux années de crise de 2008 et 2011. </o:p></span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/24ZfH2pLTg4" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Pour plus d'informations allez sur <span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm</a> </span><br />Suivez
<a href="https://twitter.com/eu_echo" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">ECHO sur Twitter</span></a> <br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-52001220547967103912014-03-07T13:08:00.001+00:002014-03-07T13:08:43.679+00:00<h2>
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Crisis in the Sahel: Adolescent Girls Struggle in Mali and Niger </h2>
<br />
<h4>
By Plan </h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Adolescent girls are often the first victims in crisis situations, and the last to receive help afterwards. Plan recognises this and is making an effort to address the needs of victims of last year's conflict in Mali, as well as in Niger, where adolescent girls are often taken from school and married off to help their families during times of drought and food shortage.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="center">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-m7bXMkaGrI" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.plan-international.org/">www.plan-international.org</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PlanWestAfrica" target="_blank">Plan on Twitter</a><br />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" with "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" --><!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-i0WQnVlYd-g%2FUVLe-Fc7WgI%2FAAAAAAAAAYs%2FoPpQuOAFWH4%2Fs1600%2Fplan-logo.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i0WQnVlYd-g/UVLe-Fc7WgI/AAAAAAAAAYs/oPpQuOAFWH4/s1600/plan-logo.gif" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-59845909227833998652014-03-05T15:07:00.001+00:002014-03-05T15:07:03.751+00:00<h2>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" height="95" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Increasing women’s voice through agriculture</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By Chelsea Graham, P4P, World Food Program</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>Throughout the pilot phase, P4P has focused on assisting women farmers to benefit economically from their work, gaining confidence and voice in their communities and homes. Mazouma Sanou, a farmer from Burkina Faso, has first-hand experience of these benefits as well as the challenges still facing women farmers.</em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“P4P started as a gender conscious project,” says P4P gender consultant Batamaka Somé’, during the 2014 P4P Annual Consultation. From its inception, he says, P4P faced many challenges to women’s empowerment, such as women’s limited access to inputs and credit, their unpaid contributions to farming, and the male-held control of household production and marketing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To address these challenges, P4P’s first step was to create realistic goals, and a framework within which these could be achieved. This was documented in a gender strategy. The development of the strategy was led by the Agricultural Learning Impacts Network (ALINe), and included extensive field research and literature review, which provided a nuanced and culturally specific view of women in agriculture.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today, a number of P4P’s targets related to gender have been met. Women’s participation in P4P has tripled since the beginning of the pilot, and some 200,000 women have been trained in various capacities. Skills and income gained through P4P have boosted women’s confidence, enabling them to participate and engage more in markets. However, many challenges remain to further assist women to access markets and benefit economically from their work.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
One woman’s experience</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1Z9aCmqvIvM/Uxc70DkkpYI/AAAAAAAAAss/FcS71xZi_qc/s1600/image_631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1Z9aCmqvIvM/Uxc70DkkpYI/AAAAAAAAAss/FcS71xZi_qc/s1600/image_631.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mazouma Sanou represented the Burkina Faso cooperative <br />
union UPPA-Houet at P4P’s Annual Consultation in Rome. <br />
Copyright: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mazouma Sanou is a 43-year old woman farmer from Burkina Faso. She is married and the mother of three children. Mazouma is a member of a P4P-supported cooperative union called UPPA-Houet. Today, the union has 20,500 members, 11,000 of whom are women. Mazouma contributes maize, sorghum, and niébé (cowpeas) to her union’s sales to WFP.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mazouma also works as a field monitor paid by WFP and OXFAM to coach 25 rural women’s groups affiliated to her union, assisting them to produce and earn more. She works as an intermediary between groups and partners, and assists women to better organize their groups. She also supports them throughout the production process, making sure their products meet standards and working with them to improve their marketing and gain access to credit.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Changing family and community dynamics</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
P4P has contributed to an improvement in family dynamics by increasing women’s economic power through P4P-supported sales, finding that with money in their hands, women have more voice in their communities and homes. P4P and its partners also carry out gender sensitization training for both men and women, illustrating the tangible benefits which can be realized by households when women participate fully in farming activities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mazouma says that since their involvement in P4P, many women are able to make family decisions in collaboration with their husbands. She states that this has made income management easier, allowing families to plan for the possibility of unexpected illness, and to set aside money for enrolling their children in school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Additionally, Mazouma has seen great changes at the community level. She says that thanks to their increased economic power, women are now more involved in decision-making and planning both in the cooperative union and their communities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Challenges ahead</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While Mazouma says that gender dynamics are certainly changing for the better in her community, she acknowledges that there are still challenges ahead. She says that certain men do resist women’s increasing voice, and that she often works with women to discuss family life and helps them negotiate with their husbands.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Women have to help educate their husbands. Dialogue can certainly change attitudes, but you can’t command people to do things,” she says. “I ask the woman ‘if you get that money, what will you do,’ and she says ‘help the children,’ so I say ‘your husband can take another wife but your children can’t have another mother. Your children can really benefit from this.’”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Many women in Mazouma’s farmers’ group have benefited economically from their work with P4P. Despite this, while over 50% of the UPPA Houet’s members are women, only 32% of the farmers’ organization’s sales to WFP were supplied by women, putting just 22% of the union’s sales directly into women’s hands. The five-year pilot illustrated that progress has been made, however continued efforts are required to ensure that more women benefit economically from their work with P4P.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Future plans</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When asked about the future of her cooperative, Mazouma says, “from the very start P4P has been a school where we have learned how to improve our work, how to improve quality. I think we need more training, so women can help women train each other and develop their work.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Though women such as Mazouma have received benefits from their participation in P4P, there is still is a long way to go. Change at a community and household level is slow, and many of the deep-seated cultural and social challenges identified at the beginning of the project have still not been completely overcome. However, the progress made so far is an indicator of the potential impact of culturally specific, flexible and nuanced gender programming.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“A great deal of work still needs to be done for gender equity to be fully realized,” says WFP gender advisor Veronique Sainte-Luce. “But P4P has been identified as something valuable, something positive, which has made a difference in women’s lives.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For more information go to <a href="http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress">www.wfp.org/purchase-progress</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/WFP" target="_blank">WFP on Twitter</a></div>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F--_d38MaI_aY%2FUW7Bx1yFlCI%2FAAAAAAAAASk%2FCekSl5CK428%2Fs1600%2Fworld-food-programme-wfp.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" --><!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" with "https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-18887682672340528232014-02-03T17:11:00.001+00:002014-02-03T17:14:35.619+00:00<h2>
Sahel Humanitarian Response Plan 2014-2016</h2>
<br />
More than 20 million people - that's roughly 1 in 8 - in the Sahel do not know where their next meal is coming from. Their struggle is compounded by continued conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. <br />
<br />
On 3 February in Rome, United Nations Agencies and partners launche an unprecedented, three-year Strategic Response Plan to bring life-saving assistance to vulnerable families and break the crisis cycle for years to come. <br />
<br />
Robert Piper, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, explains how the plan will save lives now an in the future. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ircis8w7VHc" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-70062528094269436112014-02-03T17:09:00.001+00:002014-02-03T17:09:32.825+00:00<h2>
Plan de Réponse Stratégique 2014-16 pour le Sahel</h2>
<br />
Plus de 20 million de personnes dans le Sahel, soit environ une sur dix, ne savent pas d’où viendra leur prochain repas. Leur situation est aggravée par des conflits, des catastrophes naturelles et des épidémies.<br />
<br />
Le 3 février, à Rome, les Nations Unies et leurs partenaires on lancé un plan de réponse stratégique triennal sans précédent, pour apporter une aide vitale aux familles vulnérables, et briser le cycle de crises des années à venir. <br />
<br />
Robert Piper, Coordonnateur Humanitaire des Nations Unies pour le Sahel, explique comment le plan va sauver des vies maintenant, et réduire l’impact de futures crises.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-UrEPYAr26g" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<h2>
</h2>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-63808855712479932842014-02-03T16:56:00.000+00:002014-02-03T16:56:20.979+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s1600/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s1600/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a>Pauvreté et vulnérabilité au Sahel : cinq choses à savoir</h2>
<h4>
Par le Bureau pour la Coordination des Affaires Humanitaires</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Le Sahel : c’est une région qui s’étend de l’extrémité occidental du continent Africain jusqu’aux berges de la mer Rouge, en longeant le flanc sud du Sahara et qui figure parmi les plus pauvres et vulnérables au monde.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
En 2012 et 2013, face à la sécheresse et les conflits qui ravagent la région, la communauté internationale s’est mobilisé afin de venir en aide à des millions d’enfants, de femmes et d’hommes vulnérables, ce qui a permis d’éviter une catastrophe de grande envergure.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z8n87mKxqyE/Uu_JjTrs4dI/AAAAAAAAAsc/YwcCARN4QzE/s1600/Webbanner_Sahelcampaign_140131_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z8n87mKxqyE/Uu_JjTrs4dI/AAAAAAAAAsc/YwcCARN4QzE/s1600/Webbanner_Sahelcampaign_140131_0.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mais les causes de cette vulnérabilité aigue restent entières. Nombre de communautés de la région, au Sénégal, en Gambie, Mauritanie, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Tchad et au nord du Nigéria et du Cameroun, font toujours face à une situation désespérante.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Aujourd’hui, l’Organisations des Nations Unies et les partenaires humanitaires se réunissent à Rome pour lancer une stratégie sur trois ans pour endiguer cette vulnérabilité. Voici cinq points clés pour comprendre la crise que traverse la Sahel et les efforts des organisations humanitaires et de développement pour aider la population à y faire face et à la surmonter.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Le nombre de personnes qui ne savent pas si elles auront de quoi se nourrir au prochain repas s’est multiplié par deux en un an</strong>. Au début de l’année 2013, environ onze millions de personnes se trouvaient en situation d’insécurité alimentaire. Aujourd’hui elles sont plus de 20 millions dont 2,5 millions qui ont besoin d’assistance humanitaire d’urgence pour survivre. Dans le sud-est du Niger par exemple, du fait de la sécheresse, des inondations et du conflit dans le Nigéria voisin, la population de la ville de Diffa ne peut produire suffisamment de nourriture pour subvenir à ses besoins. « Nous n’avons rien mangé depuis dix jours » se lamente Mohamed Dala. « Avant les inondations, je produisais 50 sacs de poivrons ainsi que du mais et du millet ».</div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>La sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition sont au cœur de la crise mais d’autres facteurs y contribuent</strong>. Cette année, près de cinq millions d’enfants sont en passe de souffrir de malnutrition modérée ou sévère. Dans tout le Sahel, plus 1,2 million de personnes ont fui la violence et l’insécurité, la plupart s’étant réfugié dans des pays alentours et mettent ainsi une pression additionnelle sur les ressources déjà limitées de ces pays. Ces populations sont très vulnérables aux maladies et épidémies. Du fait du manque criant d’infrastructures médicales beaucoup meurent de maladies bénignes.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Il faut une nouvelle approche pour rompre ce cycle de la faim et de la vulnérabilité</strong>. La crise du Sahel est sévère mais elle n’est pas nouvelle. On ne peut plus répondre au cycle récurrent de crises par un cycle continu d’assistance humanitaire. Robert Piper, le Coordonnateur Humanitaire de l’ONU pour le Sahel s’exprimait en ces termes dès le mois de Septembre dernier : « Nous ne pouvons continuer comme cela, c’est intenable. A moins de changer notre approche, nous allons devoir venir en aide à un très grand nombre de personnes chaque année. » Cette année, l’ONU et les organismes d’aide s’engagent dans une stratégie sur trois ans pour répondre à ces défis de façon plus systématique. Les agences, expertes dans des domaines différents de l’assistance humanitaire tels que la nutrition, la santé ou l’eau et l’assainissement, ont conjointement développé des stratégies communes et complémentaires visant à répondre à la crise de façon globale.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Les agences humanitaires travaillent avec les gouvernements ainsi que les acteurs du développement</strong>. L’étendue des besoins est telle qu’aucun organisme ne peut y faire face seul. Lors de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU en Septembre dernier, la communauté internationale a adopté une stratégie intégrée pour le Sahel. Celle-ci met en exergue le fait que les besoins humanitaires ne peuvent être adressés indépendamment de considérations sécuritaires et des efforts en matière de développement. Les personnes déplacées par le conflit au nord Mali ont besoin de la paix et la stabilité avant même de recevoir une assistance pour relancer leurs productions agricoles ou reconstruire leurs cliniques. Les gouvernements et les agences du développement ont pour responsabilité de s’attaquer aux causes structurelles de la pauvreté et de l’inégalité qui rendent les populations aussi vulnérables aux chocs externes tels que les catastrophes naturelles et les conflits.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Les agences humanitaires se disent convaincues de pouvoir faire la différence</strong>. Elles ont besoin pour cela des fonds nécessaires. Cette année, les besoins financiers des quelques 117 organisations qui apportent une assistance humanitaire à des millions de personnes dans neuf pays du Sahel s’élèvent à plus de deux milliards de dollars américains.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Comment seront utilisés ces fonds? Un million de dollars permettrait aux agences de mettre en place une infrastructure de base en eau et assainissement, essentielle à la survie de 40 000 personnes au Tchad. Avec 12,5 millions, la communauté humanitaire au Burkina Faso pourrait apporter une assistance nutritionnelle et médicale à 115 000 enfants souffrant de malnutrition sévère. Pour un peu moins de dix millions, ce sont pas moins de 500 000 enfants qui pourraient retourner à l’école et recevoir une éducation de qualité au nord Mali.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-63988524355900229162014-01-27T18:30:00.001+00:002014-01-27T18:30:14.949+00:00<h2>
Photos : projet de prise en charge de la malnutrition à Diourbel</h2>
<h4>
Par ECHO et Croix Rouge Française</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
La malnutrition infantile est un réel problème de santé publique au Sénégal. La région de Diourbel a fait partie des zones en situation nutritionnelle critique, suite à la baisse de la production agricole 2011-2012.Grâce au soutien financier de la Direction générale de l’aide humanitaire et de la protection civile de l’Union européenne (DG ECHO), la Croix-Rouge sénégalaise(CRS) et la Croix-Rouge française (CRF) se sont associées aux autorités sanitaires nationales pour mettre en œuvre un projet de prise en charge de la malnutrition aigüe sévère dans deux districts sanitaires de la région de Diourbel : Touba et Mbacké. Ce projet cofinancé par l’UNICEF couvre désormais tous les districts sanitaires de la région de Diourbel. Ainsi c’est 10 000 enfants de 6-59 mois souffrant de malnutrition aigüe sévère dont 500 qui ont eu des complications médicales, qui ont été pris en charge d’Août 2012 à Octobre 2013.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cHEq6U0nbmo/Uuakfa6T0TI/AAAAAAAAAsM/sEntNsF3gjg/s1600/Image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cHEq6U0nbmo/Uuakfa6T0TI/AAAAAAAAAsM/sEntNsF3gjg/s1600/Image2.jpg" height="434" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Photos disponibles sur <span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/sets/72157638540306594/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/69583224@N05/sets/72157638540306594/</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-16917014691818647382014-01-15T17:49:00.000+00:002014-01-16T09:26:30.516+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mj5OT7rsx4M/Utelk-yeR3I/AAAAAAAAAqs/8WJ6qS_IAs4/s1600/15437_173100636389_2686649_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mj5OT7rsx4M/Utelk-yeR3I/AAAAAAAAAqs/8WJ6qS_IAs4/s1600/15437_173100636389_2686649_n.jpg" height="168" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RssiFZzKs8/UfFdwFnMsQI/AAAAAAAAAf4/6APlfmOBDiA/s1600/anouk-delafortrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Resilience wasn’t built in a day</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By Anouk Delafortrie, Regional Information Officer for West Africa, ECHO</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Upon interviewing Lenli Traoré, a small farmer in Tapoa, the easternmost province of Burkina Faso, about how his family will be coping after the failed harvest he pulls a faded photo from his breast pocket. “Paguidamba”, he explains, “was one year old when she died. She was ill and became malnourished. We waited too long to seek medical help.” The loss of his daughter five years ago has left Lenli mourning, prompting him to share the fading depiction of the girl with a big belly so as to keep her memory alive. Touched by his gesture, I come to appreciate the true value of him cherishing his lastborn Dieudonné which he tenderly holds while his wife Kanlafé prepares the family meal.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At only 7 months Dieudonné has already been seriously ill twice during the rainy season, first measles, then malaria. And luckily, this time, his mother had been included as a beneficiary of Action Against Hunger’s cash transfer programme in the region. Although initially meant as a form of food assistance, Kanlafé spent almost her entire last instalment on medical bills for Dieudonné. But the family is happy to have had the possibility to seek care immediately. Most of the 75€ that Kanlafé received in 5 instalments during the ‘lean season’, the hardest months of the year when food and water become scarce, were used to buy food and condiments as well as soap for their family of nine.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no silver bullet to solving the erosion of coping mechanisms which a decade of food crises, shifting climate patterns and increasing food prices have brought upon many families of the Sahel like the Traoré’s. The European Commission’s humanitarian aid department ECHO has been supporting various resilience-building pilot programmes, ranging from seasonal cash transfers for poor households to subsidised health care for the most vulnerable, which could make a real difference if combined and scaled up at the national level.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9kE_0EULA38" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Humanitarian aid has its limits,” says ECHO’s head of office in Burkina Faso Eric Pitois. “Our goal is to save lives, and undertake some preventative action. But we have to go further now and encourage donors and governments to commit to long-term policies that will lift these people out of extreme poverty.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Resilience wasn’t built in a dayLooking at all that is being achieved in regions where pilot programmes are running, their immense potential becomes apparent. In 5 of the 63 Burkinabe sanitary districts, ECHO funds programmes to ensure free health care for children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. The results are spectacular in that the average number of visits to health centres by mothers and children has multiplied many times over. This, in turn, is a blessing when striving to prevent children from becoming severely malnourished and dying from lack of care.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Every year at the time of harvest, when parents are busy in the fields, the number of severely malnourished children admitted with medical complications increases,” says Action Against Hunger’s Dr. Issa Sawadogo who provides technical support for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in Tapoa’s provincial hospital. “Children suffer the most when families don’t manage to be food self-sufficient. Malnutrition really needs to be considered as a public health priority and the solutions should not only come from NGOs.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Brought together under an initiative to build resilience in the Sahel and West Africa – AGIR or the Global Alliance for Resilience Initiative – Dr. Issa’s point of view is gaining ground. The realization that increased agricultural production alone will not suffice to feed an exponentially growing population is sinking in. Infrastructure works and optimizing agricultural outputs can be extremely useful, but if there is one thing that humanitarians in this region are demonstrating, it is that investing in policies which shield the most vulnerable families, who are likely to benefit little from these works and agriculture schemes, from ‘falling in deeper’ is needed at the same time.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Now is indeed the time to take action,” agrees Burkina Faso’s minister of agriculture Mahama Zoungrana. “Resilience should not be a single-sector effort, because it is a multi-disciplinary issue. We need to build on the best practices we’ve seen throughout the years and pull them together in AGIR so as to build long-term programmes that will allow our people to live in dignity.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When asked about this year’s harvest, Lenli replied that the stock of cereals will only cover the family’s needs for 6 months. Alone in his field, shedding blood, sweat and tears to keep his family alive, one realizes it is not by lack of determination nor hard work that fathers like him come to lose their children, but by lack of a safety net.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
AGIR aims to achieve zero hunger in West Africa by 2032. Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither will resilience -, but building it on the right foundations can prevent the edifice from collapsing.</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm">http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/eu_echo" target="_blank">ECHO on Twitter</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-81778990859271768232013-12-06T12:14:00.000+00:002013-12-06T12:14:18.144+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s1600/World+bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s200/World+bank.png" width="159" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s1600/World+bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Fighting Drought, Building Resilience in the Sahel one Community at a Time</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By World Bank</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Senegal River courses through Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, making its way to the Atlantic Ocean after traversing some of the driest, drought-prone parts of western Africa.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As with any shared water resource, the Senegal River is a major economic, social and cultural lifeline for over 35 million people, 12 million of whom live in its river basin which has a surface area of 300,000 square kilometers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The US$228.5 million Senegal River Basin Multipurpose Water Resources Development project approved today by the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors marks a new push to alleviate water scarcity and improve farming prospects for millions of people in the four riparian countries. The project is the second phase of a multi-sector, multi-country 10-year program working to bring more food, energy, irrigation and to meet other development targets.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<object allowfullscreen="true" allownetworking="all" allowscriptaccess="always" data="https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_2veyger1/uiconf_id/4909271" height="300" id="kaltura_player_1386330911" name="kaltura_player_1386330911" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><param name="movie" value="https://www.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/1_2veyger1/uiconf_id/4909271"/><param name="flashVars" value=""/><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com">video platform</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/video_platform/video_management">video management</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/solutions/video_solution">video solutions</a><a href="http://corp.kaltura.com/video_platform/video_publishing">video player</a></object></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Boost for Farming</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take rice, a major staple food and preferred cereal of choice across much of western Africa. Along the banks of the Senegal River and deeper into the delta, cultivating rice is a major occupation and principal source of food and income security for farming communities whose fortunes largely depend on the availability of water for irrigation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Currently, irrigated farming is limited. Less than half of the Senegal River basin’s irrigation potential, estimated at 375,000 hectares, is developed. Of the 130,000 to 140,000 hectares that are developed, only 90,000 hectares are really usable. The new project will bring irrigation to 13,000 hectares, enhance regional integration and promote multi-purpose water resources development to increase incomes and improve community livelihoods.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thilene village, in northern Senegal, is an archetypal example of how transformative impact can be achieved by providing farmers with irrigation. There, a new irrigation system fed by the Senegal River is boosting rice production enabling farmers to achieve record rice harvests three times a year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In the past we used to have great difficulties accessing water,” said Mamba Diop, an enthusiastic rice farmer. “Today everybody has water, and everybody can farm all year long. This has increased our revenues; rural-urban migration has stopped because all the young people are interested in agriculture. We were even able to electrify our village and send our kids to school.” Diop also serves as President of the Thilene Farmers Union.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A similar story is playing out in neighboring Mali, where the Senegal River is formed through the merging of Bakoye and Bafing rivers. Here, communities have practiced subsistence agriculture, and lack of irrigation has meant that prosperity had remained elusive until a new irrigation system was installed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our main activity is farming, that’s our only source of income,” said Sambali Sissoko, a farmer in Bafoulabé village. “We are organized in cooperatives and each one of us has a piece of land where we grow cabbage, onions, eggplant, lettuce and maize. We are now able to water our land, and we will have a good harvest and more revenues.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Protecting Human Health</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Water-related diseases associated with large water infrastructure projects are prevalent in the Senegal River basin, a necessary tradeoff of continuing efforts to meet burgeoning food and energy needs for a growing population that is projected to double every 25 years.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For example, malaria affects over 14% of kids under age five and 9% among pregnant women, the most vulnerable groups. Among the riparian countries, Guinea tops the list with the highest prevalence rate of over 54%, while Mauritania has the lowest prevalence rate of 1.2%. Mali and Senegal have each reported prevalence rates of 3.1% and 2.1% respectively.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thanks to proper management of water bodies and distribution of mosquito nets, more and more communities living in the Senegal River basin are close to seeing malaria banished from their lives. The project has already distributed 3.1 million long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets. As a result, the use of nets has increased from 27.6% to 46% overall.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The example from Richard Toll, a town lying on the south bank of the river in northern Senegal, is illuminating. Commenting about how the battle against malaria is being waged successfully, Dr. Alassane Tall, a physician at the local health center noted that thanks to large-scale distribution of mosquito nets, it is very rare to enter a home in Richard Toll and not find a mosquito net. “Today, we have almost no occurrences of malaria here,” he asserted.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In an interview, Sall Dieynaba Sy, a mother of two young children attested to the success of the mosquito net distribution strategy, adding “Every day, every night, all year long, my children and I sleep under a mosquito net.” </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Fish for Food</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After agriculture, fishing is the next most important economic activity in the Senegal River basin. Unsustainable fishing practices and changing hydrology are negatively impacting livelihoods in many communities. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To support development of inland fisheries and aquaculture in selected areas of the river basin, the project is providing funding for strengthening fisheries-related institutions, development of sustainable fisheries’ management programs, support for enhancing the value of fish catches through better storage infrastructure, and finance of aquaculture development programs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Fishing is our main activity, that is how we are able to provide for our families,” said Serigne Ba, who has been practicing the craft for three decades and is President of the fishery association in village Thiago, Senegal. “With the new fishing boats and nets, we are able to go further in the river, catch more fish, and conserve the fish for a longer time because we now have refrigerated containers. This allows us to sell fish locally and to markets far away such as Richard Toll.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Coordination and Cooperation Vital for Transformative Impact</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Basin (known by its French acronym, OMVS) was established in 1972 to promote coordinated water and energy development. Jointly governed by Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, the OMVS is spearheading coordinated river basin planning and investment so that the risks of large-scale water investment are mitigated and the benefits are shared among the riparian states.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking to the importance of a multi-pronged approach to sustainable development of the Senegal River basin, Kabiné Komara, High Commissioner of the OMVS said: “Over 12 million people living along the river used to be the poorest in the area. This project has improved health conditions and contributed to improved livelihoods. Through improved management of fisheries, food security has improved and revenues have greatly increased. In supporting agriculture, we didn’t just establish irrigated fields, but also provided farmers with guidance and training along with small loans that allowed for the improvement of agricultural techniques and sharing of knowledge sharing.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the four countries of the Senegal River basin work to improve the well-being of their people, it is clear that active coordination and close cooperation is delivering results.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The second phase of the Senegal River Basin Multipurpose Water Resources Development project is helping communities to secure economic growth, improve well-being and cope and adapt to climate change,” said Shelley Mcmillan, Senior Water Resources Specialist and project leader. “This model of collaboration holds significant promise in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.”</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/">www.worldbank.org</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldBankAfrica" target="_blank">World Bank Africa on Twitter</a><br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-72091911944753420932013-11-30T13:23:00.000+00:002013-12-06T13:25:50.051+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s1600/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s200/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" width="128" /></a>Video - Humanitarian actors work on a three-year response plan</h2>
<br />
<h3>
By The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs</h3>
<br />
Humanitarians closed today a two-day workshop on the Sahel chaired by the UN Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Coordinator for the Sahel, Robert Piper. They discussed anticipated needs of the Sahel and defined strategic objectives for the humanitarian response.<br />
<br />
A three-year Sahel Strategy will be developped to support governments and humanitarians in the planning, coordination and implementation of their humanitarian work. This strategy will be launched in February 2014.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EfWCA8IOdGY" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="left">
For more go to <a href="http://www.unocha.org/rowca/">http://www.unocha.org/rowca/</a></div>
<div align="left">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/UN_Piper" target="_blank">Robert Piper on Twitter</a></div>
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-32008065204708389962013-11-27T09:48:00.001+00:002013-11-27T09:48:06.720+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s200/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Little Boy Plays Again As WFP Works To Rebuild Lives In Northern Mali</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By World Food Program</h4>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7vrfMTeamM/UpW-hqePdrI/AAAAAAAAAnk/XoxoWMC44I8/s1600/MLI_201311_WFP_Daouda-Guirou_%2520(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7vrfMTeamM/UpW-hqePdrI/AAAAAAAAAnk/XoxoWMC44I8/s320/MLI_201311_WFP_Daouda-Guirou_%2520(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After three weeks of nutritious food, Souleymane's health <br />
improved. Credit: WFP / Daouda Guirou</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As displaced people and refugees start to voluntarily return to northern Mali, the World Food Programme is scaling up its operations to help rebuild livelihoods while also responding to immediate food and nutritional needs. Saouda Salihou, who returned to Gao with her young family, explains why this assistance is vital.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
GAO - Sitting in front of her straw hut, Saouda Salihou proudly watches her two-year-old son Souleymane as he plays with his ‘toy cars’ – two tin cans attached to a length of rope. The toddler mischievously teases his older brother as he plays. Salihou, 27, can hardly believe this joyful, healthy child is the same boy she brought to a health clinic just three weeks ago.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During that visit to Gao’s health centre, Souleymane was diagnosed with moderate acute malnutrition. Nurses had weighed him and measured his mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) - a quick method to assess nutritional status.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Salihou was given Plumpy’Sup, a ready-to-use nutritional supplement delivered to health centres in Gao by WFP, in partnership with Action Against Hunger.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“After I started giving the product to my child, he quickly gained weight,” said Salihou. “The following week, I was amongst the first people to arrive at the health centre for my child’s medical appointment."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These weekly appointments allow health agents to monitor vulnerable children’s nutritional status. Mothers also receive information on nutrition, and are given cooking demonstrations, using local products like peanuts, millet and maize.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Salihou attended many of these cookery classes, but said she often did not have enough money to cook the nutritious meals she was shown.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
She is not alone. In northern Mali, three out of four households are food insecure and heavily reliant on food assistance, according to the results of a joint survey carried out by WFP and the government of Mali in September this year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Salihou returned to Gao in mid-October after spending around 18 months in the capital Bamako following her family’s flight from the conflict that gripped northern Mali. But her husband was unable to return to Gao with her as they could not afford the transport fees.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He sends a little money to the family, and Salihou uses this to buy and resell condiments in Gao market. But the little she earns is never enough.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is why WFP’s school meals programme in Gao is so important. One of the reasons Salihou returned was to send her children to school in their home region.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Her 10-year-old daughter Alima is now enrolled, and was delighted to rediscover her old friends in the classroom. She also enjoys a hot meal of enriched porridge every morning and another hot meal at midday.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I have struggled to feed my children since I returned and it’s a real relief for me that Alima is getting food at school. She is also very motivated to go to school,” said Salihou.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
WFP provides school meals to around 120,000 children in 576 schools in northern Mali. As more schools reopen, WFP is expanding this programme. WFP is also extending its malnutrition prevention and treatment in areas where health centres have started to function again.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“WFP is scaling up its operations and requires more funding,” said Sally Haydock, WFP’s Representative in Mali.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The drought and subsequent food crisis in 2012, combined with the protracted security crisis have made it very difficult for the most vulnerable people to rebuild their lives. They will require food assistance throughout 2013 and into 2014,” she said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
For more go to <a href="http://www.wfp.org/">www.wfp.org</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/WFP" target="_blank">WFP on Twitter</a><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-83592650096276286162013-11-22T13:02:00.001+00:002013-11-22T13:02:45.996+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VoS32hTxS9w/Uo9VYWTf9KI/AAAAAAAAAnU/DSVcgE8-cx0/s1600/logo-alima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VoS32hTxS9w/Uo9VYWTf9KI/AAAAAAAAAnU/DSVcgE8-cx0/s1600/logo-alima.jpg" /></a>Prévenir la malnutrition infantile au Mali avec des distributions de compléments alimentaires</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By ALIMA</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Du 28 octobre au 4 novembre 2013, les équipes de Alima et de son partenaire au Mali, l’Alliance Médicale Contre le Paludisme (AMCP), ont réalisé la première distribution d’Aliments Supplémentaires Prêts à l’Emploi (ASPE) dans le district de Kangaba en partenariat avec les autorités sanitaires locales de la région de Koulikouro. Au total, 4439 enfants ont ainsi reçu une ration de 4 pots de Plumpy’doz. </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ndHCD1qQ9aE/Uo9UfsidZeI/AAAAAAAAAnM/lsWv680TC6k/s1600/DSC04358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ndHCD1qQ9aE/Uo9UfsidZeI/AAAAAAAAAnM/lsWv680TC6k/s400/DSC04358.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="wp-caption-text">
Les mamans reçoivent les conseils d’utilisation et de conservation. </div>
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Chaque enfant reçoit une ration de 4 pots pour un mois © Alima / Ouologuem Sekou</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Le plumpy’doz est une pâte constituée de lait en poudre et d’arachides, c’est un complément alimentaire, dont la prise quotidienne permet de satisfaire les besoins des enfants de 6 à 36 mois en micronutriments essentiels. Il a été conçu pour réduire l’incidence de la malnutrition dans des pays où l’accès à une alimentation est monotone et ne satisfait pas les besoins nutritionnels spécifiques de cette tranche d’âge. L’utilisation de suppléments nutritionnels permet une réduction de la malnutrition chronique et a un réel impact sur la diminution de la malnutrition aigüe globale. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
« Lors de cette distribution, nous avons ciblés les enfants sains âgés de 06 à 23 mois car après la phase de l’allaitement maternel, cette tranche d’âge est la plus vulnérable en termes de mortalité et de retard de développement » commente Ouologuem Sekou, le responsable du projet Alima/AMCP dans le district. Dans cette zone, les enfants souffrent également du paludisme ; ils vont cesser de s’alimenter correctement pendant deux à trois jours, ce qui les rend encore plus vulnérables aux maladies. A l’inverse, la dénutrition les expose à des risques accrus de maladies. La prévention de la malnutrition dans sa globalité est donc essentielle pour réduire la mortalité infantile liée aux pathologies courantes comme les diarrhées et infections respiratoires. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Une distribution de Plumpy’doz préparée et menée avec les acteurs de santé locaux</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
En amont de la distribution, le personnel des centres de santé et du district ont été formés et associés aux campagnes de sensibilisation à travers l’identification et l’encadrement des agents de santé et relais communautaires pour mener des opérations de dépistage au porte à porte. Les enfants atteint de malnutrition ont été référés vers le centre de santé le plus proche pour une prise en charge appropriée par Alima/AMCP et l’ONG Afasso. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
L’ensemble des accompagnants des enfants a été informé des dates de distribution du plumpy’doz et ont bénéficié de recommandations sur l’alimentation des jeunes enfants. Des messages de sensibilisation en langue locale (le malinké) ont également été diffusés à travers les radios locales. Malgré les difficultés d’accès de la zone découpée par la rive droite du fleuve Niger, en huit jours, 17 756 pots de Plumpy’doz ont été distribués. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
« Ma petite sœur Nassira n’a pas encore 2 ans », nous explique Lala Traoré, âgée de 18 ans, lors de la distribution dans le Centre de Santé Communautaire de Habala Dougou Kenieba. « Tous les jours, elle mange du riz et d’autres aliments selon ce que la famille peut trouver. Je ne sais pas ce qu’est la malnutrition, mais j’ai bien compris que ma petite sœur devait prendre 3 cuillères à soupe des pots reçus entre les repas pour rester en bonne santé ». </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
La distribution d’ASPE cible au total 6958 enfants dans 189 villages du district de Kangaba. Appuyée par l’UNICEF, elle s’inscrit dans le cadre du programme de réduction de la mortalité infantile de la région de Koulikoro de Alima/AMCP au sud Mali. Les équipes de Alima/AMCP envisagent d’étendre cette activité à 5 autres districts de la région de Koulikouro.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pour plus d'information visitez <a href="http://www.alimaong.org/">www.alimaong.org</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-34790432207548556382013-11-22T12:34:00.001+00:002013-11-22T12:35:58.623+00:00<h2>
New Humanitarian Appeals Process for the Sahel</h2>
<h4>
By the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8PBgalu5Yc/Uo9JKZ4FF7I/AAAAAAAAAm8/sa7bQg-nPDI/s1600/nutrition.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8PBgalu5Yc/Uo9JKZ4FF7I/AAAAAAAAAm8/sa7bQg-nPDI/s320/nutrition.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From 28-29 November, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel (RHC) is convening governments, Humanitarian and Resident Coordinators, Cluster Coordinators, Regional Directors, NGOs, Donors, and Chairs of Regional Sector Working Groups in a workshop to plan the humanitarian response for the Sahel for next three years. Participants to the workshop will finalize the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) in the Sahel and outline the Strategic Response Plan (SRP) for 2014-2016. Objectives of the workshop are three-fold: (1) to reach a shared understanding of humanitarian needs in the region; (2) to identify shared strategic objectives and indicators for a 3-year regional response strategy for the Sahel; and (3) to agree on procedures and timelines for strategic response strategies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The HNO and SRP processes replace the traditional humanitarian appeals process, known as the Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP). The regional humanitarian Sahel Strategy for 2014-2016 will be launched at a high-level event in early February 2014.</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.unocha.org/rowca/">http://www.unocha.org/rowca/</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/OCHAROWCA" target="_blank">OCHA ROWCA on Twitter</a><br />
<div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-68359179071408069772013-11-12T16:29:00.000+00:002013-11-12T16:29:24.435+00:00<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s1600/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s200/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" width="128" /></a>A strong partnership for a more effective humanitarian action in West Africa and Central</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By the Regional Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, West and Central Africa (OCHA ROWCA)</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On 2-3 October, OCHA ROWCA hosted a Humanitarian Policy Conference in Dakar. It brought members of the humanitarian community, academic institutions, civil society and the private sector to think and to work together for a more efficient humanitarian programming in the region. "We need to look at how to work better and smarter to break the cycle of vulnerability and crises," said Robert Piper, United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzbLNHK1KDvt8sCrxGd0ijPC12tuKmzMifjDWhHfkdlAKFHekxoy8MDEaqqjMS8ezJEcfvvY51po0SHkmTTGQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During the conference participants made an overview of the humanitarian situation, vulnerability and risk management in the region. Discussions covered the future of humanitarian interventions with a focus on new partnerships, innovation and how to provide a much more effective response to the needs of vulnerable populations. "We need a new toolbox. We need to build on what we have, but we also need innovation and new tools, "said Mr. Piper. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The forum was organized in perparation of the World Humanitarian Summit scheduled in 2016. This summit will map out a new humanitarian approach that is more effective and inclusive, and more representative of the needs and challenges of our rapidly changing world. Currently, several consultations are being conducted to identify humanitarian priorities for each region.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For more go to <a href="http://www.ocha.org/rowca">www.ocha.org/rowca</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/OCHAROWCA" target="_blank">Ocha Rowca on Twitter</a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-9271085545433912252013-11-11T16:14:00.000+00:002013-11-11T16:46:04.306+00:00<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s1600/World+bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s200/World+bank.png" width="159" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlc/SML1nNXT8OI/s1600/World+bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Niger Invests in Early Childhood through Social Safety Nets</h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
By The World Bank</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Malnutrition is a torment that Rabi, a Nigerien mother, struggles with daily. Rabi lives in the village of Katami, in the southern Niger department of Dosso, one of the poorest regions in the country. About 20 years old, Rabi raises her five children, as well as an orphaned niece, by herself. Her husband left the village five years ago in search of a better life, leaving the young woman to feed the household on her own.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Niger, an immense Sahelian country where the fertility rate (7.6 children per woman) is among the highest in the world and where drought strikes with alarming frequency, more than one-third of children under five years of age are underweight. And even when the harvest is good, an estimated 40 percent to 50 percent of Nigeriens struggle to feed their families.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In an effort to combat this misery, Nigerien authorities decided to tackle the causes of chronic food insecurity. In 2011, with support from the World Bank, the government began to establish a system of social safety nets targeting the most vulnerable households, and women in particular, in the five poorest regions in the country: Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabery, Zinder and Dosso. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rabi is among 114 beneficiaries in the village of Katami alone. For almost a year she has been receiving monthly cash transfers of CFAF 10,000 (approximately US$20), which she will continue to collect for 24 consecutive months. “I use this money to buy food and clothes, but also soap and shoes for the children,” Rabi states. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“What’s new in the social safety net program is that we’re not content to just give out money to beneficiaries; this program includes measures meant to bring about behavioral changes, not only among beneficiaries, but also across the community,” notes Carlo del Ninno, a World Bank economist and task team leader. “It is about long-term investment in human capital. The program’s goal is to help the most impoverished households meet their needs, avoid having to sell their assets when crises hit, and improve the odds that the children will emerge from poverty in the future,” he adds. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Promoting Early Childhood Development </h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To increase the impact of these cash transfers, the World Bank and UNICEF have joined forces to establish accompanying measures that build community awareness of the need to adopt better parenting practices and, in particular, to encourage children’s nutrition and development. In addition to collecting her small monthly stipend, Rabi will participate in 18 months of training activities (led by local NGOs and community educators). These sessions, based partly on UNICEF’s “Essential Family Practices” modules, explain the advantages of practices such as breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of the child’s life, adding nutritious foods to the diet and sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets, as well as the importance of stimulating young children through language and play. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The innovative aspect of the accompanying measures is that they aim to give parents the maximum tools necessary to support their children’s development from a young age,” explains Oumar Barry, assistant professor of psychology at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and the creator of the technical guide for the accompanying measures component. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Village assemblies, which are held once a month, target the entire community. Monthly group meetings and home visits are also organized for the women who take part in the program, in order to reinforce the messages. “Going into a community and asking outright that they change their behavior overnight is quite challenging and requires a lot of patience,” acknowledges Oumou Amadou Assane, regional supervisor for the accompanying measures for the Niger government’s Social Safety Net Department.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The inclusion of such a parenting education program is an innovation that simultaneously helps strengthen the impact of cash transfers and expands the scope of early childhood development programs,” notes Patrick Premand, a World Bank economist. “The effectiveness of parenting training programs has been demonstrated in other low-income countries, but the Niger project also includes an impact evaluation that will provide scientific evidence about the extent to which the program improves children’s nutrition and development.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Bringing About Lasting Change</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Guido Comale, the UNICEF representative in Niger, welcomes the collaboration between the World Bank, UNICEF, and the government of Niger. In his view, linking cash transfers with behavioral changes is critical to lifting the most vulnerable households out of extreme poverty. “You cannot ask people to wash their hands with soap if they don’t have the money to buy soap. You cannot hope to change social norms in the long term without also creating economic opportunities for the villagers,” explains Guido Comale. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thanks to this income, Rabi can even begin saving and preparing for the future. With a group of 10 other villagers, she participates in a tontine, a type of revolving saving group that is widespread throughout West Africa. Every month, she saves some of her cash transfers into a common pot. One by one, each woman will receive an interest-free loan allowing her to invest in a productive activity. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With a budget of US$70 million financed by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, the program will continue until 2017: Some 80,000 households will receive these cash transfers and 200,000 households will benefit from the accompanying measures. In total, more than half a million children will be reached. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I see a very strong connection between the cash transfers and the accompanying measures. These provisions allow us to envision a future, perhaps by 2030 to 2040, filled with very bright young people,” says an enthusiastic Ali Mory Maidoka, the national coordinator of the Social Safety Net Department in Niger’s Office of the Prime Minister. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><strong>Footnote:</strong> </em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>The project is implemented by the Social Safety Net Department, Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Niger, with technical and financial support from the World Bank. The accompanying measures are implemented in collaboration with UNICEF, whose “Essential Family Practices” modules serve as the basis for parenting education activities. Development of the technical manual for the accompanying measures benefits from the support of the Early Learning Partnership (ELP) and the Children’s Investment Fund (CIFF). The impact evaluation of the project is supported by the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF).</em> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For more go to <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/">www.worldbank.org</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldBankAfrica" target="_blank">World Bank Africa on Twitter</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-18495454447703800802013-11-06T17:35:00.000+00:002013-11-06T17:35:55.675+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s1600/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--_d38MaI_aY/UW7Bx1yFlCI/AAAAAAAAASk/CekSl5CK428/s200/world-food-programme-wfp.gif" width="200" /></a>Change Through Cowpeas: In Mali, WFP Empowers Women Farmers</h2>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
By World Food Program (WFP)</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the world’s largest humanitarian agency, the World Food Programme (WFP) uses its procurement needs to boost agriculture indeveloping nations through its Purchase for Progress (P4P) programmes. In the village of Logo in Mali, WFP and its partners have helped women farmers improve yields in the fields, while also enriching their children’s diets. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LOGO – On a sandy plain below Mali’s majestic Bandiagara cliffs, Awa Tessougué describes how she and a group of women farmers reshaped agriculture in their village, putting money in their pockets and improving their children’s nutrition in the process. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In the beginning, my husband was sceptical about the project. Now, not only has he given me a larger plot of land so that I can grow more niebe (cowpea), but he also allows me to sell the family’s millet surplus to WFP,” she said. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Traditionally women in this region were denied access to land unless their husbands, who tended to cultivate millet for use in the home, consented. Some women were given tiny plots of land to grow crops for sale to cover some household expenses. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Awa Tessougué was among a small group of women whose husbands or male relatives gave them small parcels of land on which they grew niebe, a type of cowpea that is rich in protein, for sale in local markets. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
WFP, through its P4P initiative, recognised the challenges facing these women as they attempted to move from subsistence farming to larger scale production of crops for sale, and started to work with them in 2009. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Acting with partners, including Catholic Relief Services and the Government of Mali’s local agricultural division, WFP taught the women how to increase production and also provided more resilient and high-yielding niebe seeds. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thanks to these efforts, the women of Logo steadily increased their sales of surplus niebe, from one metric ton in 2011 (valued at approximately US$700) to 14 metric tons (with an approximate value of US$13,500) in 2013. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
“Holistic” benefits </h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yapè Tessougué, president of the Logo women farmers’ organization, says the village chief, who once fiercely opposed the project,is now very supportive. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“He has given 200 hectares of farming land to our organisation for niebe and millet production. He also offered a portion a land on which WFP built a warehouse to store our stocks,” she said. Awa Tessougué says that she can now pay her four children’s school fees, and is not dependent on her husband for all her needs. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I even give my children a small amount of money to buy snacks during their break (at school) and I’ve noticed that they are now more motivated to go to school,” she said. WFP and its partners have also educated the women of Logo on the benefits of consuming the nutrient- and protein-rich niebe, which in the past was almost exclusively grown for sale. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today, more and more women are using niebe in their own homes, and they say this has helped reduce child malnutrition rates in the village. “My children are less often ill and look healthier since they started eating more niebe,” said Binta Dramé, another farmer and mother-of-six. “The P4P project in Mali is very holistic as it brings together key aspects of development, such as nutrition, capacity building and gender empowerment,” said Ken Davies, the Global P4P Coordinator after he visited Logo in late September. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“While WFP is currently mainstreaming the best aspects of P4P into its overall Country Programme in Mali, I am glad to see the strong engagement from the Government at all levels”.</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.wfp.org/">www.wfp.org</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/WFP" target="_blank">wfp on Twitter</a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-65296308386697984862013-11-01T12:38:00.004+00:002013-11-01T12:38:53.790+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCYeaUrV5ZA/UnDQbTah0YI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Mym7i6k9q3g/s1600/DG+FAO+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCYeaUrV5ZA/UnDQbTah0YI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Mym7i6k9q3g/s200/DG+FAO+2.jpg" width="200" /></a>Sound water management key to building resilience in Africa’s Sahel</h2>
<h4>
Agricultural potential waiting to be unlocked – greater attention and investment needed</h4>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sound water management holds the key to building resilience in Africa's Sahel and can free rural communities from the vicious cycle of weather-related food security crises that have plagued the region over recent years, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today at a high level meeting on resilience in the Sahel, focusing on irrigation and water management, with participants from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With both drought and flooding posing recurring challenges to the livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists, "water is often a problem in the Sahel, whether too much or too little. And the poorest and most vulnerable are the most affected," he noted. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K6Irj_56HLU/UnOdejyQ_-I/AAAAAAAAAmc/AxoDxcef9kM/s1600/FAO_siege+(17)+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K6Irj_56HLU/UnOdejyQ_-I/AAAAAAAAAmc/AxoDxcef9kM/s320/FAO_siege+(17)+%5BR%C3%A9solution+de+l'%C3%A9cran%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
A demanding region, with potential </h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Owing to its often harsh agro-climatic and environmental conditions, the Sahel is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Still, agriculture is the most important economic activity in the Sahel. Local economies and livelihoods in the Sahelian countries depend heavily on soil, water and vegetation, but the state of these resources has been steadily deteriorating as a result of expanding human settlement, erosion and demand for food, fodder, fuelwood and water. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yet agriculture in the region - put on a path to resilience - holds great potential, Graziano da Silva argued. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While the Sahel is characterized by low and erratic annual precipitation, with irregular short rainy seasons, its renewable water resources put regional supplies above the standard water scarcity limit of 1,000 m3/yr per capita. Indeed, with the notable exception of Burkina Faso, there is no aggregate physical water scarcity in the Sahel. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"The region's agriculture potential, when properly mobilized, could easily go beyond local sales and serve regional and even international markets," said Graziano da Silva. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But to unlock this potential, more effective, sustainable and integrated management of water resources for agricultural productivity and rural development is necessary. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBGWrpTjb0/UnOeIYOUg0I/AAAAAAAAAmw/Kxh5hpY1TwE/s1600/Tchad_forage_motopompe_012012+%255BR%25C3%25A9solution+de+l%2527%25C3%25A9cran%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QyBGWrpTjb0/UnOeIYOUg0I/AAAAAAAAAmw/Kxh5hpY1TwE/s320/Tchad_forage_motopompe_012012+%255BR%25C3%25A9solution+de+l%2527%25C3%25A9cran%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Getting there </h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The FAO chief urged governments, development partners, academia, civil society and private sector participants at the Dakar meeting to be creative and uncompromising in their search for solutions. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"We have the tools to transform the vulnerable communities of the Sahel into much stronger and more resilient communities, and we cannot wait anymore for the next drought or the next flood," he said. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Investments in small-scale water harvesting and water storage have a tremendous impact on rural families, he said. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Flexible irrigation systems giving farmers better control over water can significantly enhance their incomes. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At the same time, more investment in medium to large-scale irrigation systems through effective partnerships between public and private sectors is needed, according to Graziano da Silva. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The event in Dakar was second of two back-to-back high-level meetings on boosting rural resilience in the Sahel organized by the World Bank, the Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) and the governments of Mauritania and Senegal, with the participation also of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first meeting, focused on the needs of Sahelian pastoral communities, took place in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on 29 October. </div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.fao.org/"><span style="color: #b45f06;">www.fao.org</span></a><br /> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/FAOnews" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">FAO on Twitter</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-71266150920413544762013-10-29T16:40:00.000+00:002013-10-30T09:30:22.476+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCYeaUrV5ZA/UnDQbTah0YI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Mym7i6k9q3g/s1600/DG+FAO+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCYeaUrV5ZA/UnDQbTah0YI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Mym7i6k9q3g/s200/DG+FAO+2.jpg" width="200" /></a>
Building communities in the Sahel that can weather shocks </h2>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
By the Food and Agriculture Organization</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The time has come to break the "vicious circle" of crises in Africa's Sahel by proactively building up the ability of pastoralist and rural communities to weather drought and other shocks, rather than merely helping them recover from disaster after the fact. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"We cannot prevent droughts or floods, but we can put in place measures that will help stop them from turning into famine," FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today told participants at a high-level event here in the Mauritanian capital. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Nouakchott event, focused on the needs of pastoral communities, is the first of two back-to-back high-level meetings on boosting rural resilience in the Sahel organized by the World Bank, the Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS) and the governments of Mauritania and Senegal. The second, looking at irrigation needs in the region, takes place in Dakar, Senegal on October 30 and 31st. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
A way of life at risk </h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxZSLt7NO3I/UnDQsmfSEpI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/UkQx2-Gt5Sg/s1600/24749_8967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dxZSLt7NO3I/UnDQsmfSEpI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/UkQx2-Gt5Sg/s400/24749_8967.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Poor weather and high food prices have in recent years sparked recurring food and nutrition crises in the Sahel, leaving many rural families in precarious circumstances and on a vulnerable footing. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Among those most affected are the region's estimated 16 million pastoralists — livestock-reliant people who regularly move their families and animals in search of water and pasture. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While pastoralism has long offered a way for these communities to cope with bad weather and a lack of productive land, their vulnerability to drought, flooding, and other disasters has been on the rise due to increasing competition for access to water and grazing lands.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And the Sahel is, and will likely continue to be, one of the world regions most affected by climate change, meaning that drought and other weather extremes will increase the pressures being brought to bear on pastoralists. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
"Resilience works" </h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Often, when a crisis hits, the animals upon which pastoral families depend for food and income — as well as capital reserves — die in large numbers or are sold off to meet immediate needs. Selling animals might give temporary relief, but it also means the loss of a household's only productive assets, leaving them even more vulnerable to future calamities.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"This is a vicious circle that we need to break," Graziano da Silva said during a keynote address at the start of the Nouakchott meeting. "The only way to end recurrent emergencies in the region is to change from a reactive to a proactive and integrated approach, focusing on resilient livelihoods," he added. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The evidence shows that resilience works and is proving effective at saving not only lives and livelihoods but also money, the UN food chief argued. For example, in 2003-2004, the cost of reacting to and suppressing a locust plague in the Sahel added up to $500 million.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last year, a similar crisis was avoided via the timely investment of $8 million that prevent a new outbreak from occurring, Graziano da Silva pointed out. Similarly, studies show that supplementary feeding of livestock before crisis hits — thereby preventing animals from dying out during drought, disease outbreaks, or other shocks — is 16 times less expensive than buying new animals after mass-die offs. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"At FAO, we are convinced that resilience is key to food security and are raising its prominence in our work," Graziano da Silva said. Increasing the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises is one of five new strategic objectives recently established by FAO to focus and guide its work. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
Building on what works </h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Graziano da Silva highlighted a number of areas where more focused action can help improve the resilience of the Sahel's pastoralist communities, including: </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Using mobile technology to improve communities' access to weather forecasts and information on vegetation cover, so they can take their animals to where there is forage. </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Scaling up cash for work opportunities that improve rural infrastructure while offering social safety nets. </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Ensuring not only that early warning and response mechanisms are in place, but that they are triggering early reactions. </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Providing various forms of direct support to pastoralists, especially in the area of animal health. </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Supporting the diversification of livelihoods and accumulation of assets by pastoralists. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All such efforts will require a joint effort by local communities, governments and the development community, concluded Graziano da Silva. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"To build resilience, we cannot work alone. We need to work in partnership," he said.</div>
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.fao.org/">www.fao.org</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/FAOnews" target="_blank">FAO on Twitter</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-85015688546891304342013-10-28T18:00:00.000+00:002013-10-28T18:00:17.695+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlY/pwkh6gwr5mU/s1600/World+bank.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6pL4OiQlgk8/Um6lpDRkahI/AAAAAAAAAlY/pwkh6gwr5mU/s200/World+bank.png" width="159" /></a>More Irrigation and Pastoralism Could Transform Africa's Sahel Region</h2>
<br />
<h4>
By Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa at the World Bank</h4>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Sahel region, a vast arid stretch of land linking six countries in West Africa -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal -- is home to some of the most productive pastoralist communities in the world.And yet, assailed by a host of climatic, political and development challenges, their pastoralist way of life is under threat.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here, over centuries, some 16 million pastoralists have perfected the art of survival in the Sahel, raising sheep and livestock in some of the most harsh and unforgiving environments anywhere on the planet. Meat yields fromthe Sahel rival those from some of the best ranches in Australia and the United States. Currently, half of the meat and two-thirds of the milk produced and consumed in the countries of West Africa originates in the Sahel.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However pastoralism is facing multiple threats. These include rapid population growth, conflict, volatile food prices, animal diseases, and shrinking grazing areas and water resources. Combined, these factors are steadily jeopardizing the survival of the pastoralists of the Sahel.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Climate change is expected to hit Africa hardest. It is increasingly likely that scientific warnings that the world could warm by 2°C in the next 20 or 30 years will come true. In such a case, pastoralism will be imperiled. The effects on the African continent will be dramatically more devastating under a warming scenario of 4°C.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Desert and aridity define the Sahel, yet its vast water resources are untapped. In a region where farming is the predominant economic activity, sadly, only 20 percent of the Sahel's irrigation potential has been developed. Worse still, one quarter of the area equipped with irrigation liesin a state of disrepair.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pastoralism matters for Africa's future particularly in the Sahel. So does irrigation. Both affect farming, the dominant industry in the region,which accounts for one-third and more of all economic output in the Sahel. This in turn empowers the women of the Sahel, as women account for the majority of Africa's farmers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Supporting pastoralism with more climate smart-policies; reducing vulnerability to drought, flooding and other disasters; and raising more healthy livestock through timely vaccines, are all necessary to help communities adapt to the ecological harshness of the Sahel.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bringing more water to parched lands in the Sahel will not only improve food production but place more food on family dinner tables, allow farmers to move from subsistence farming into growing and selling greater quantities of food crops for higher earnings in local and regional markets. Climate-smart agriculture can increase yields, put more money in farmers' pockets and help protect biodiversity, improve soil fertility, and conserve the environment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At a time when the global economy is slowly recovering, we want to prime the engines of growth that really matter.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The World Bank is hosting two major summits in Mauritania and Senegal focused on threats and opportunities for pastoralism and irrigation to thrive in Africa.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I am confident that in Nouakchott and Dakar, we will mobilize new coalitions of countries, development partners, business leaders, and the communities themselves for a new push to transform agriculture with more domestic, regional and international support for pastoralism and irrigation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It can be done.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-52479099190635642302013-10-23T15:59:00.000+00:002013-10-23T15:59:16.879+00:00<h2>
Adolescent Girls Struggle in Northern Mali</h2>
<h4>
By Plan International </h4>
<br />
Adolescent girls were extremely vulnerable during the 10-month occupation of Northern Mali by armed militias in 2012, but they have also been overlooked in the aftermath. Plan International has begun working with the victims of this conflict but, after speaking with many adolescent girls in Northern Mali, it is clear that more must be done.<br />
<br />
Plan is calling for governments and humanitarian actors to recognize and address the specific needs of adolescents' girls before, during and after disasters.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yy4NvPTbVa4" width="420"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://plan-international.org/"><span style="color: #b45f06;">http://plan-international.org</span></a> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/PlanWestAfrica" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Plan on Twitter</span></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-52789987964603066902013-10-14T08:57:00.000+00:002013-10-14T08:57:52.123+00:00<h2>
Robert Piper: Une nouvelle approche pour le Sahel </h2>
<br />
Le plus haut Responsable Humanitaire dans le Sahel déclare que les gouvernements, les donateurs et les organisations humanitaires ont besoin de changer leur manière de soutenir les personnes les plus vulnérables du monde.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HHr4o-cQzqo" width="420"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Pour plus d'informations sur le Sahel visitez : <a href="http://www.unocha.org/crisis/sahel"><span style="color: #b45f06;">http://www.unocha.org/crisis/sahel</span></a><br />
Suivez
<a href="https://twitter.com/UN_Piper" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Rober Piper sur Twitter</span></a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-85831284495446130442013-10-08T18:28:00.003+00:002013-10-08T18:28:50.855+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_IUO6ZrJps/UXgO6KIm0pI/AAAAAAAAAWA/GbGPHSJIoIY/s1600/IFRC-Diallo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_IUO6ZrJps/UXgO6KIm0pI/AAAAAAAAAWA/GbGPHSJIoIY/s200/IFRC-Diallo.jpg" width="143" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_IUO6ZrJps/UXgO6KIm0pI/AAAAAAAAAWA/GbGPHSJIoIY/s1600/IFRC-Diallo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><h2>
</h2>
</a>Flooding in the Sahel leaves thousands of families facing uncertain futures </h2>
<br />
<h4>
By Moustapha, IFRC</h4>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />Armed with a single bucket, Amy Gueye tries to scoop out the waters that have overtaken her completely flooded home. Like many others in Wakhinane Nimzatt, in the suburbs of Dakar, the Senegalese capital, she had hoped for a lull in the rain to get rid of the water. But her efforts come to nothing as, unusually, persistent and recurrent rains continue to deluge her neighbourhood and many regions across the Sahel, causing huge losses for thousands of families. Resigned and powerless, Gueye thinks for the first time about leaving the house in which she was born. "It is very difficult to live with all the water. I am completely exhausted and I lost almost all my possessions," she says. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amhMJRI38ks/UlRNwABYBkI/AAAAAAAAAlE/czUKXMQeT88/s1600/20131003-international-floods-sahel-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="344" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amhMJRI38ks/UlRNwABYBkI/AAAAAAAAAlE/czUKXMQeT88/s640/20131003-international-floods-sahel-main.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heavy rains inundated neighborhoods in and just outside of Dakar, September 2013. Moustapha Diallo/IFRC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since August, severe floods have been reported in many countries across the Sahel, particularly in Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. According to assessments conducted by authorities and Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies, more than 300,000 people have been affected. Houses, roads, public infrastructure, food reserves and crops have all been lost. As flooding continues, fears are growing about the impact on the upcoming harvest, particularly in Niger where thousands of hectares of farmland have been swept away. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The damage to crops and the widespread destruction of grain stores in Niger have left many communities facing an uncertain future,” says Naziha Moussaoui, food security delegate at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Dakar. The situation is considered just as serious in many other countries even though the extent of damage varies from one region to another. “An estimated 11.3 million people remain severely food insecure across the Sahel and what is extremely worrisome is that some regions in some countries hardest hit by the flooding are those which were also affected by the food crisis in 2012,” says Moussaoui. “We are extremely concerned about what could be a long period of food insecurity for some vulnerable families.” </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Health is also a major concern in the countries hit by the flooding. Many people are living in flooded houses in stifling heat and terrible sanitary conditions, exposed to the risks posed by waterborne diseases. The situation is particularly serious in Dakar where, in addition to flooding, people are ironically facing a dire water shortage. A broken pipeline has left 40 per cent of the population – an estimated 3 million people – searching for clean water to drink. Two weeks after the pipeline burst, many residents are resorting to using water from wells or backwater, increasing the risk of further disease outbreaks. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Tap water no longer flows in our neighbourhood and we don’t have money to pay 2 US dollars just for 10 litres of drinkable water. It will be not enough for the entire family, that’s why we collect water from the backwater. We know it is not safe, but we don’t have any other choice,” says Gueye.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For more go to <a href="http://www.ifrc.org/"><span style="color: #b45f06;">www.ifrc.org</span></a></div>
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/Federation" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">IFRC on Twitter</span></a><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-73338230744146578592013-09-27T13:24:00.000+00:002013-09-27T13:24:56.367+00:00<h2>
Robert Piper: A new approach needed for the Sahel</h2>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Robert Piper, has called on governments and international organizations to adopt a new way of supporting people in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa. "'Business as usual' doesn't cut it," he said. "We're going to have a very large caseload of people every year unless we change our approach," he said.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z4H6blt7BU8" width="420"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
For more go to <a href="http://www.unocha.org/crisis/sahel">http://www.unocha.org/crisis/sahel</a><br />
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/UN_Piper" target="_blank">Rober Piper on Twitter</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5600490475994257107.post-63591338849928290282013-09-26T16:14:00.002+00:002013-09-26T16:15:40.940+00:00<h2>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s1600/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSUZo8s3F1s/UVHT4Uz9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKA/wYS3gsQXdQg/s200/UN-OCHA-Logo_vert-blu660-block_withtext.jpg" width="128" /></a>Interview: “Business as usual doesn’t cut it”</h2>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This morning (Thursday 26 September), senior representatives from more than 60 countries and international organizations will gather in the margins of the UN General Assembly for a High Level Meeting on the political, security and humanitarian future of the Sahel – one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. The meeting will be chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Speaking ahead of the event, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Robert Piper, says that it offers a chance for governments, the UN and the development and humanitarian communities to adopt a new approach to addressing vulnerability in the region.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Business as usual’ doesn’t cut it. We’re going to have a very large caseload of people every year unless we change our approach,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Q. Thank you for your time. What is the situation in the Sahel today?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Funding%20Status%2020%20SEPT2013_0.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unjilOOBfjA/UkRcKgn05gI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Twl09rqoaoA/s400/Funding_situation_0.png" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="290" /></a> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A. Well, the situation today is much better than last year. Last year we had a drought and we certainly had a crisis of fairly epic proportions. This year the situation remains fairly serious, People are still trying to recover from last year’s events and they’ve also been battered by man-made disasters: [the conflict in] northern Mali and so forth.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today we have over 11 million people food insecure across the region. Almost 5 million children are acutely malnourished and we have had a number of epidemics and different health challenges. So it’s a region which is recovering from a very serious period, but [that is] still very fragile and in need of a tremendous amount of support from the international community.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Q. What kind of humanitarian assistance do people need?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A. I think we need to realize firstly that we have amongst these populations the most vulnerable people on the planet. So ‘business as usual’ doesn’t cut it. We’re going to have a very large caseload of people every year unless we change our approach.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the problems we have today – as we’ve had almost every year with humanitarian efforts – is that governments tend to want to fund food and nutrition which gives a very immediate life-saving result. They are much more reluctant to fund, say, agriculture or water and sanitation inputs because that has a deferred result.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So the problem is the following: If we’re going to reduce next year’s caseload of food insecure people, then we need to give them agricultural support this season. And if we’re going to reduce the number of malnourished children that we’re going to treat next year, then water and sanitation services have got everything to do with [that]. So we need a more balanced response.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Q. What will be the focus of the High-Level Event for the Sahel?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A. The meeting is dedicated to bringing the international community together in a coordinated fashion. The objective of the Secretary-General is to create a stronger international response to make sure that [everyone] comes together on the new UN integrated strategy for the Sahel which was endorsed by the Security Council a couple of months ago.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The strategy brings together essentially three pillars of work of the international community in the Sahel: Supporting and strengthening states across the region; security and borders, and resilience – trying to break the cycle of crises that are creating more and more vulnerable people in the region.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Q. What are your expectations for the meeting? What do you want to see?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A. Our expectations are pretty high for this. This is a very fragile region. We can’t afford to let it slide another year. Across the region we see fragility. We see fragility caused by nature and climate change. We see the fragility that comes with the most intense poverty on the planet. And we see fragility that comes from man-made crises -conflicts between people over resources, conflicts championed by Jihadists in northern Mali, and refugees being pushed out of Sudan and Central African Republic into Chad. So there’s fragility wherever you look.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To respond effectively to that kind of scenario, we need regional governments working together very effectively, and we need an international community in turn which comes in behind that regional community of actors and dedicates themselves to dealing with the structural problems that are unfolding in the region.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My expectation is that at the end of the day we [need to be] sure that we are focusing on the most vulnerable people in this region. If we don’t have [them] at the centre of all our policy making efforts and our funding, then we’re not going to build the kind of resilience that we have to see in this part of the world.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For more go to <a href="http://www.unocha.org/"><span style="color: #b45f06;">www.unocha.org</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/UNOCHA" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">OCHA on Twitter</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span id="goog_833344429"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_833344430"></span> </div>
<img height="96" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unjilOOBfjA/UkRcKgn05gI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Twl09rqoaoA/s400/Funding_situation_0.png" style="left: 554px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 390px;" width="70" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618001737673839142noreply@blogger.com0