Building Productive and Protective Communities in the Sahel

This innovative Lives in Dignity Grant Facility-funded cross-border initiative (December 2021 - May 2024) in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, implemented by GRAAP-Afrique, ADL, and AMAPEF, pioneered a unique South-South cooperation model between local NGOs to address displacement challenges affecting 2.75 million IDPs in the Sahel region. Rather than treating displacement solely as a humanitarian crisis, the project adopted a development-oriented strategy that worked simultaneously across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, focusing on building sustainable livelihoods, improving service access, and strengthening protection mechanisms with special attention to climate-smart agriculture and the needs of women and youth. Key achievements included establishing 618 secure vegetable gardening areas, training 647 women in business development and integrating them into Village Savings and Loan Associations, facilitating education access for 1,200 children, training 265 municipal councilors to respond to displaced people's needs, and raising environmental protection awareness among 26,189 people. The project's holistic approach effectively integrated environmental protection with social cohesion initiatives, demonstrating that South-South regional partnerships can create sustainable integration between displaced and host communities while building resilience across multiple countries sharing similar cultural backgrounds.