Pictures: UN Special envoy for the Sahel, Romano Prodi, and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, David Gressly, discussing humanitarian and development challenges in the Sahel region with Humanitarian Coordinators

 On Monday, the United Nations Special Envoy for the Sahel, Mr. Romano Prodi, attended a retreat of United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators in the countries of the Sahel, in Dakar.

The meeting was organized by Mr. David Gressly, the United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel.  The discussions focused on the humanitarian and development challenges in the Sahel region, existing mechanisms to address them and ways by which they could be reinforced.

Special Envoy for the Sahel, Romano Prodi and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, David Gressly. CREDIT: Laurence Gérard/UNOWA

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Resilience: New Wine In Old Bottles?

Interview by Caroline Hurford, WFP

The term resilience has entered the aid lexicon. But is it just “new wine in old bottles”? Haven’t aid agencies already been seeking to build resilience among beneficiaries for decades?  To find out, we spoke to David Gressly, who was appointed Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Sahel earlier this year.


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David Gressly. CREDIT: UNOCHA

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Video: Assessment on the situation in the Sahel region in 2013

Interview featuring David Gressly, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel

 

David Gressly, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, was recently interviewed by Reuters in his office, in Dakar- Senegal, on the incoming situation in the Sahel.

"The kind of acute crisis we saw in 2012 will hopefully not be repeated in 2013, but that does not mean the job is done."

Watch David Gressly ´s video interview with Reuters (all rights Reuters, download/distribution not permitted):

Video: David Gressly shares updates on the Sahel crisis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

The Sahel region, which spans across nine African countries, is estimated to have more than 18 million people facing food insecurity due to the combination of drought, political instability, and high food prices. Although international organizations and governments acted on the early warning signs of food insecurity earlier in 2011, an emergency response is still vital, but long-term, structured, development efforts are also essential.

David Gressly, the UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, shares updates on the crisis and the humanitarian relief efforts the United Nations currently has underway. Ms. Johanna Nesseth Tuttle, Director of the Global Food Security Project, moderates the discussion.

Watch David Gressly´s video

Video: The Sahel's Deepening Crisis and Its Humanitarian Consequences

David Gressly, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, discussed on 01/10/2012 in the NY International Peace Institute the current and future challenges facing the Sahel countries linked to chronic, structural food and nutrition insecurity, resulting in the need for a large-scale humanitarian response.

Watch David Gressly´s address at the IPI

Next stop: Resilience

 by David Gressly, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel

 

This week, I have attended  the opening of the High-Level event on the Sahel in New York.  It has been a difficult year for the people in the Sahel, but we have been able to contain the food and nutrition crisis thanks to an early and generous donor response. The situation has improved. While 18 million people are still affected, most communities across the Sahel are now receiving appropriate support.  Partners have scaled up the general food distribution and nutrition assistance since the beginning of the lean season in July.

With the onset of abundant rains, there is now a prospect for good harvests in 2012.  If all goes well, this will be positive news for 2013.In the meantime, however, we need to maintain our momentum to get through this crisis. And for this to happen, we still need to ensure sufficient funding for sectors critical to the response, such as water, education, and the needs of Malian refugees and IDPs.

2013 is key

This is the time to tackle the chronic structural problems that we see across the Sahel. Even in a good year with plentiful rains, a quarter million children will die of malnutrition unless the structural problems are also addressed. That is why we are pushing, with many other partners and governments, an agenda on resilience to increase the capacity of these same households to absorb the shocks of drought and high prices.  As a result, they will be better positioned every year to deal with the kind of stress that exists in the Sahel.

Building resilience 

 

People in the Sahel are by nature extremely resilient individuals, but this is a tough environment. The first key will be to work with communities to rebuild after the 2012 crisis.  This means restocking and making sure they have the right seed to re-establish their livelihoods. And longer term requires long improvement in agricultural productivity, linked to better water management for example. Social Safety nets will be important aspects to ensure that everybody has good access to food. In addition to that, it will be critical to support  programs that promote nutrition and health services to control diseases such as cholera and vaccination for children .