Sahel: responses which are having trouble finding their bearings

23/10/2012

Since the end of 2011, the Sahel has become front-page news again with the food crisis, calls for donations and terrible images on the one hand, and the political crisis, and the deterioration of the situation in Mali on the other. In this region, where there are more and more crises, and the gaps between them are getting shorter, the main aid mechanisms are those of development organizations who have in-depth contextual knowledge and work in close collaboration with governments and communities, but who have difficulty reacting rapidly. The response is not making progress and the international community faces numerous challenges. Changing gear is difficult and the work methods which need to be put in place to respond to emergencies are very different to development methods. The large arid spaces with low population density make logistics complicated and expensive, and all the more so when there is the added problems of insecurity and the escalation of asymmetrical wars.