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The document argues that ECOWAS fails to systematically include persons with disabilities (PWDs) in its core security and development agendas, despite the existence of a Regional Action Plan on Disability Inclusion (2022-2030). It highlights a critical lack of harmonised disability data, the exclusion of PWDs from emergency responses in the Central Sahel, and barriers to free movement caused by biometric systems and discrimination. The author recommends establishing a regional Disability Data Initiative and a Disability-Inclusive Crisis Framework to move from a welfare-based approach to a rights-based model of governance.

The report examines the 2022 food crisis in the Central Sahel, which followed an erratic 2021 rainy season characterized by delayed onset and short duration. Using three observational datasets and multiple climate models, the study finds that it is impossible to significantly link these specific monsoon characteristics to anthropogenic climate change due to large uncertainties and discrepancies. Instead, the crisis is attributed to chronic vulnerabilities, including extreme poverty, armed conflict, political instability, and global economic shocks such as the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.