Sahel fragility assessment

Dubbed “ground zero” by UNEP for climate change due to its extreme climatic conditions and highly vulnerable population, the Sahel has faced massive population growth, pervasive poverty, food insecurity, and chronic instability for decades. With a majority of the population directly dependent on natural resources for its livelihood, the predicted impacts of climate change for resource availability and food security in the region could be dramatic. End 2019, the World Bank has produced a report assessing the linkages between risk and resilience in the Sahel. Among many topics, the assessment examines different types of fragility and violence risks, transboundary interests, religious dimensions, community conflict and migration within the Sahel G5 countries. The analysts identify the combined effects of climate change, population growth and weak governance as a root cause of regional fragility.
Following a meeting between Inger Andersen (UNEP Executive Director) and Franck Bousquet (Senior Director of the World Bank Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group) on October 19, 2019, UNEP is supporting this assessment by providing environmental analysis of the conditions in the Sahel.
The environmental analysis consists of the publication on MapX of relevant spatial datasets curated by UNEP/GRID-Geneva and UNEP/CMB as well as a story map with an emphasis on environmental dimensions for the Sahel fragility assessment, and a briefing note.