Implementation of the Resilience Pillarof the UNISS Support Plan

PRESENTATION ON BEHALF OF:MS. MARIE-PIERRE POIRIER, UNICEF RDMR GOUANTOUEU ROBERT GUEI, FAO RD

MR. CHRIS NIKOI, WFP RDRESILIENCE PILLAR LEAD & CO-LEADS

9TH MEETING OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THEUNITED NATIONS INTEGRATED STRATEGY FOR THE SAHEL (UNISS)

30 JUNE 2020 - DAKAR, SENEGAL

UNSP 3. INCLUSIVE/ EQUITABLE GROWTH & BASIC SERVICES

Cash interventions to strengthen resilience - $11 million in 2019 [UNHCR]• Cash supported shelter for over 25,000 displaced families in the

Central Sahel since 2020 [UNHCR figure alone], NFIs and other basic needs (Sahel, Lake Chad Basin)

• Fostered stronger linkages between UN and national social protection schemes and safety-nets

• Helped produce eco-friendly bricks for social housing (Niger)

WASH Access • 1.4 million people received critical WASH supplies and services

[2020 alone - UNICEF]

Child Protection• UNCT / UNICEF provided support to develop Guinea National

Strategy and budgeted Action Plan adopted to end child marriage• 1000 Adolescent girls/ year engaged in convergence

communities on life skills/ comprehensive sexual education interventions to wipe out harmful practices [UNFPA, UNICEF, Plan International]

• Psychosocial support for children affected by conflict [UNICEF, ILO]

Education• Expansion of Écoles Amies des Enfants to reach 770 schools in

Burkina Faso [UNICEF]

UNSP 3. INCLUSIVE/EQUITABLE GROWTH & BASIC SERVICES

An Agenda to Put Children’s Nutrition First in the Sahel (FAO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO)

• A game changer overarching strategy to prevent and treat malnutrition

• Addressing immediate and urgent needs while strengthening local systems

• Implementing a multisectoral approach to address specific drivers, using a regional framework

• Focusing on local solutions, including the local production of complementary foods with a potential to enhance nutrition sensitive agriculture, community/women empowerment and income and family MUAC

Comprehensive approach for optimal nutrition and resilient

communities => Scaling-up maternal and early child nutrition

programmes

▪ 7 out 10 countries engaged in Stronger With Breastmilk Only

programmes [UNICEF, WHO]

▪ Over 1.1 M children treated for severe wasting [UNICEF, WFP]

▪ All countries practising Family MUAC

Participated in Alliance Sahel Climate Change WG [UNICEF/WFP June 2020) & proposal for UNISS briefing in Q3/2020

Resilience Pilar focus areas integrated in the Regional Stabilization Strategy for the Lake Chad Basin

CADRi mission Togo [CADRI Secr, IOM/, AO, UNICEF, OCHA]: Multi-sectoral analysis of existing capacities, challenges and gaps & proposed recommendations for strengthening national and local capacities in DRR and adaptation to climate change (Nov 2019) & CADRi Refresher Training (Jan 2020)

Eco-system Protection & Livelihoods in the Lake Chad Basin & the Liptako Gourma triangle

• Promotion of Green economy Income-generation activities and the restoration of degraded ecosystems (30,000 beneficiaries)

• Continued roll-out of the UNESCO-led BIOPALT project on poverty reduction (Lake Chad Basin)

Early Alert for transhumance corridors [IOM/ FAO]

• Information sharing/early alert systems to notify at-risk communities ahead of massive herds arrival

• Renewed links between different communities concerned by transhumance engaging leaders or sentries on along hotspots between Burkina Faso and Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger (Liptako Gourma

UNSP 4. CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Rome-based Agencies investing in Resilient Communities [FAO/IFAD/WFP]

• Collaboration on resilience: Joint RBA resilience projects including on 1 million cisterns, resilient pastoralism, livelihoods support for IDPs and host populations, etc.

• RBA action plan for resilience in the Sahel developed in 2019

• RBA partnership plan in Niger

• Collaboration with G5 Sahel Permanent Secretariat: MoU between WFP, FAO and the G5 Sahel (2018) for a Partner Coalition & ongoing discussion to include IFAD.

• Resilience in crisis and conflict affected areas (G5 Sahel + 1): Emergency and Rural Development in Sahel: Response to the 3C Challenges (COVID-19, Conflicts and Climate Change)

Building & Scaling-up Resilience: a UNICEF-WFP Partnership

• Around 1.4 million people befitted from an integrated resilience package (FFA, school feeding and nutrition)

• Enhanced global partnership (Chad, Mali, Niger) on nutrition, education and resilience.

• Integrated resilience scale-up (Mali, Mauritania, Niger) in vulnerable communities with complementary, integrated resilience packages over 4-5 years. Including Solar Hub and WASH Severity Classification indexing

• Social Protection at times of COVID (Mali, Mauritania, Niger): Concept notes on “Supporting national social protection responses to the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in fragile contexts” developed

• Social Cohesion and Resilience in Diffa (Niger): Joint project developed to strengthen systems and institutions and building community resilience.

UNSP 4. CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Main challenges

• Crowded donors’ space, requiring careful coordination / partnerships with other actors

• Persistent barriers to private investments despite a huge potential, exacerbated by the deteriorating security situation

1. Creation of a task team in Dakar with 10+ agencies of the UN system

(5 meetings since mid-March 2020)

2. Development of a conceptual framework with 3 complementary levels of intervention(completed end of April 2020)

Target: Provide access to clean energy to 10% of the rural population of the Sahel lacking access in 2020, which represents 15 million people for electricity and 17 million people for clean cooking, by 2025.Budget: USD 1,050 million

3. Proposed next steps (2020)

Bankable Programme (10 agencies, Lead UNDP)

i. Creation of a technical working group open to partners

ii. Development of a regional bankable projectiii. Development of national/subregional

bankable projectsiv. Resource mobilization

[Energy as enabler to SDGs]

• Difficulty to raise resources and political attention due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

UNSP 5. RENEWABLE ENERGY:

Supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment [UN Women]

Regional training for soap and hydroalcoholic gel productionin Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea

Will enable 1,025 women and their families to generate income and prevent COVID spread

Household Basket [UN Women, FAO, UNFPA]

Reinforcing links between rural female producers and vulnerable urban and peri-urban households in need for food during the COVID-19 crisis in Senegal (231 tons of rice & 23 tons of other cereals)

Decent Work & Livelihoods [ILO]

• Initiative on decent work, social protection and labourmigration [ILO, G5 Sahel and African Union]

• Improved employability of 2000 young people trained on technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills to respond to labour market demand

• 1033 children (of which 485 girls) pulled out of child labour and put into intensive education centres (2019)

UNSP 6. WOMEN & YOUTH

Multi-sectoral crisis

Health status

Sickness & Death Saturation of health services

Social services

Access to education, routine immunization and other services disrupted, non-life saving health treatments put off

Economic disruption

Loss of jobs and livelihoods, underemployment, financial crisis, remittance flow reduced/stopped

Psychosocial/Mental

Impact on domestic violence, violence against children, risk of stigma to particular groups and nationalities

Trade/Travel Restrictions

Supply chains and markets disrupted, limitations with remote support and response, longer path to recovery

Civil Liberties

Impact on freedom of assembly and expression, elections put off, restriction to movement and practice of traditions

Security

Armed conflict and civil unrest with limitations to respond

Can we turn threats of COVID-19 into opportunities?

In alignment with the UN Comprehensive response to COVID-19:

With our collective effort to act fast and adapt, we have to minimize the damage, mitigate the risks,

leverage innovation and technology so that we can overcome this humanitarian crisis and use

COVID-19 to find solutions to longstanding problems – This can be a time for opportunities

COVID Scenarios & Issues to watch

Response, Preparedness applying overall Disaster risk

reduction methods (incl. EWEA)

Inclusiveness in local prevention and response

planning (vulnerable/ special interest groups)

The Green Economy

Inclusive Distance/ Digital Service Delivery and Learning

– Business and service continuity

Systematize joint support to Disaster Risk Management authorities, Climate Change Authorities (NDA), National Platforms for DRR including data collection & monitoring

Expand Shock-responsive Social Protection systems

Develop joined-up programming offers on resilience at country and regional level

Greater inter-sectoral approach to public health issues prevention and responses/ Public Health in Emergencies (urban planning, environment, human capital, etc.)

Support Government’ capacity at scale for digitalisation of their services (e-governance, remote learning, health advice, remote work opp.)

Safe return to school

Clear and consistent policy, accessibility and affordability

Holistic Needs assessment, use of multi-sectoral approaches

Digital school to serve in various hazardous contexts

Build back better: Capitalize on innovations implemented during school and health service closures to improve inclusivity and quality of services, teaching and learning

Advocacy and policies to engage vulnerable groups including women and youth in risk assessment & adapted solutions addressing political, social, and economic issues and represent their needs

Build climate, disaster and conflict resilience – stimulus packages need aligned with ambitious policies, DRR and peace – ensure to deliver win-win-win policies for people, planet and prosperity

Flexible funding for Nexus

Expand the focus from SDGs 1 to 6 to also promote SDGs 7 to 17 (green and sustainable economic development, public-private partnerships, etc.)

Invest in new climate-SMART technologies, 21st Century skillsfor all

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Supply Chain Management reviews & Optimization of procurement & delivery

Focus on gender, inequities: new roles for women ? specific assistance to girl’s education and transition to job market, etc.

Learning lessons from the COVID crisis to strengthen Resilience – Recovering better

CROSS PILLAROBSERVATIONS, CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITES

Professionalize UNISS way of working

• Strategic Leadership of UNISS

• Functioning of ISU

• The ISU should focus on: 1) Building partnership ; 2) Functioning as an entry point of potential investment in the Sahel as a continuum to the OSAS

• Roll-out of the UNISS Division of Labor (adopted in November 2019)

• Joint Work Plan and M&E at all levels (RBM)

• Regular meetings with key outcomes

Visibility and communication around UNISS

• A functional ISU can promote the UN work in the UNISS/ UNSP framework to interested stakeholders, discover new opportunities and match them with UN agencies

• Set up website, regularly share information at regional/national level, build KM platform

• DSG, UN RCs, ISU to promote UNISS and link country activities with its intervention areas => ownership at HQ (NY) to national level.

Resource Mobilization: real commitment needed

• SDG Sahel window with DSG support

• PBF and MPTF

• GCF proposals

Common Challenges & Opportunities - 1

Partnerships

• Strengthen existing relations, building on the Offices of the SRSG UNOWAS

• Enhanced engagement with other initiatives and partners to build synergies

• Support strengthening of institutional capacities of authorities for cross-border management

• Strengthen collaboration with regional institutions

Four Bankable Initiatives (identified in the DSG Memo of October 2019)

• Give them impetus and “Walk the Talk”

Invest in youth who represent more than half of the population

Common Challenges & Opportunities - 2

MERCI