The World Bank, European Union, and the United Nations are pledging $8.25 billion to encourage economic growth in the Sahel of Africa, a developing region between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savanna. The announcement was made last week during a trip to the area by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. The EU will donate $6.75 billion over seven years, while the World Bank will donate $1.5 billion over two years.
Ban Ki-Moon also announced that the UN would devote $200 million of the funds to improving reproductive health and education for girls and women. The World Bank already has $150 million devoted to women in the region in the next two years. The combined funds will help create maternal and child health programs in the Sahel, make reproductive health commodities more affordable, and create training centers for rural midwifery and nursing services.
The Sahel is notoriously underdeveloped region that suffers from frequent drought and conflict. The area has seen three major droughts in the last decade. Millions of people are starving or malnourished. It is estimated that 5 million children are malnourished. The region is rife with organized crime, terrorism, and warfare.
The visit continued through Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad. The trip ended on November 8.
Ban Ki-moon was optimistic, saying, “The challenges in the Sahel respect no borders – neither should our solutions. The cycle of crises can be broken…By working together and investing in governance, security, resilience and opportunity for women and young people, we can help the Sahel move from fragility to sustainability.”
Creative Commons Love: Oxfam International on Flickr.com
Written by Sean Yi