The Sahel Regional Fund launches its operational phase

The humanitarian situation in the Sahel is one of the world’s fastest growing displacement and protection crisis driven by conflict, violence, and human rights violations. The Sahel Regional Fund was established to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, by providing immediate relief to affected populations, strengthening local capacities, supporting skilled aid organisations, and paving the way for lasting solutions.

“The Sahel Regional Fund’s unique added value is to provide predictable, flexible and long-term funding to scale humanitarian intervention and to adapt programming in cost effective way to respond to acute basic needs in current and emerging crises in humanitarian hotspots of Sahel,” says Mr Yann Faivre.

The Fund will promote strategic and inclusive engagement with local stakeholders, first responders and endogenous systems. Furthermore, it will support demand driven, needs-based and people-centred programmes that deliver food security, nutrition, health, and protection and which support the participation of affected communities in addressing humanitarian needs.

“Unearmarked and multi-annual funding, which offers predictability and flexibility are the key for international and national NGOs to gain in efficiency. With the start of the operational phase, we will now be actively engaging with donors to mobilize additional contributions” says Mamadou Diop, Regional Director of ACF and President of the SRF board.

The SRF is hosted by Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and governed by leading international and national NGOs. The Fund’s launch is supported by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through an allocation of £33 million.

“I thank the FCDO for providing these much-needed resources and for supporting a collective NGO action to respond to the regional protection crisis in Sahel,” says DRC’s Regional Executive Director for West & North Africa, and Latin America, Mr. Yann Faivre.

For more information, please contact:

Séverine Moisy Aksoy, Fund Director: [email protected]
Yann Faivre, Regional Executive Director: [email protected]