The Sahel Beyond the Headlines: Underlying Demographic, Environmental Trends Erode Resilience

Jun 8, 2015 | Carley Chavara, Theo Wilson, and Schuyler Null
View Original

Between the Sahara to the north and savanna to the south lies the semi-arid Sahel, a region stretching from Senegal to Sudan that has experienced desperate poverty, climate change, malnutrition, and violence. While every context is different, the Sahelian countries share some common challenges, including a pattern of recurring crises and fluid borders. Boko Haram’s reign of terror in northern Nigeria and Mali’s coup have both had cross-border components. 

A “multisectoral approach that includes gender, population, nutrition, climate change adaptation, conflict management, and humanitarian response must come together,” said Roger-Mark De Souza, director of population, environmental security, and resilience. He was joined by a more than a dozen experts, including former U.S. Ambassador to Niger Bisa Williams, at the Wilson Center on May 12 to go “beyond the headlines” in this troubled region and discuss some of the underlying trends driving instability.