Sahel strategies: why coordination is imperative

This policy brief provides a comparative analysis of strategies and initiatives for the Sahel developed by various multilateral organisations. It examines geographical scopes, objectives, implementation sectors, and financing to identify gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for coordination to improve the effectiveness of regional interventions.

• There is no single, internationally accepted definition of the 'Sahel' or 'Sahel-Saharan' region, with organisational actors defining the area based on their own interests and perceptions. However, most strategies focus on five core countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
• Multilateral strategies for the region generally share four primary areas of focus: security, governance, education, and development and resilience (including infrastructure). These fields are often viewed as inseparable due to the multi-dimensional nature of the challenges in the Sahel.
• There is a significant disparity in the resources available to different strategy makers. While the World Bank, EU, AfDB, and IDB have sufficient internal resources, other strategies—such as those from the AU, ECOWAS, AMU, and CEN-SAD—are highly legitimate but dependent on external financing.
• The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are the only organisations analyzed that have established specific monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for their strategies.
• Coordination is hindered by a lack of operational capacity and the potential for competition among international actors to assert influence. The ability of state governments in the region to manage and absorb available resources remains a critical challenge.
• Despite the risk of redundancy, synergies already exist through joint projects. Examples include the World Bank financing a UN Population Fund project on demography and the EU providing financial support to ECOWAS and WAEMU.

APA

Helly, D., Théroux-Bénoni, L.-A., Galeazzi, G., Maïga, I., & Ouédraogo, F. (2015). Sahel strategies: why coordination is imperative. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief76Eng.pdf

Chicago

Helly, Damien, Lori-Anne Théroux-Bénoni, Greta Galeazzi, Ibrahim Maïga, and Fatimata Ouédraogo. Sahel strategies: why coordination is imperative. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief76Eng.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Helly |first1=Damien |last2=Théroux-Bénoni |first2=Lori-Anne |last3=Galeazzi |first3=Greta |last4=Maïga |first4=Ibrahim |last5=Ouédraogo |first5=Fatimata |title=Sahel strategies: why coordination is imperative |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief76Eng.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{helly2015sahel, author = {Helly, Damien and Théroux-Bénoni, Lori-Anne and Galeazzi, Greta and Maïga, Ibrahim and Ouédraogo, Fatimata}, title = {{Sahel strategies: why coordination is imperative}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolBrief76Eng.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }