The participants at the second consultation meeting on the ECOWAS Strategy for the Sahel, held on May 26 in Abuja, made several recommendations including the establishment of a technical secretariat, the development of an action plan for an efficient implementation of the Sahel strategy.
More than one hundred persons representing regional organizations, international institutions, and international financial Institutions attended the meeting. Discussions focused on the mechanisms of coordination and funding. Ways of partnership and strengthening the coherence of the various initiatives in the Sahel were also explored, among them, the African Union Strategy (MISAHEL), and the United Nations Strategy for the Sahel.
Addressing participants at the opening session, the President of ECOWAS Commission, His Exc . Kadré Desiré Ouédraogo portrayed the Sahel zone as an area of vulnerability exposed to isolation, poverty, food insecurity and security challenges. However, he has said, this space also has number of opportunities such as pastoralism, trade, tourism, and high mineral potential.
In addition, the President Ouédraogo said he was confident about the future of this area which should not be seen as a hostile and untamed territory, but an area of substantial wealth to integrate with the rest of the region.
To achieve a structural transformation of the economy in the Sahel region, President Ouedraogo proposed the implementation of three pilot projects focused on the development of infrastructure, strengthening resilience and food security and improvement of education systems for human development.
In his closing speech, President Ouédraogo thanked ECOWAS Development partners for their interest in this regional initiative. Among them, we count the African Union, the World Bank, EU, UEMOA, CILSS , EBID , BOAD , CEN-SAD , ADB, and the Liptako Gourma . Note that the United Nations was represented at this meeting by Ms. Guebre Selassie, Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations.