STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY ISSIFI BOUREIMA, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CCRS
Ladies and gentlemen, Distinguished guests,
I would like to begin by thanking UNDP for inviting me to speak at this event. I would also like to point out that this meeting, initiated by UNDP’s Crisis Bureau, follows on from the one held in April in New York as part of the Climate Security Agenda.
I would also like to once again congratulate the UNDP Bureau for its commitment and reiterate our deep gratitude for the sustained cooperation with the CCRS in the follow-up to this agenda, particularly for the Sahel.
Indeed, it should be recalled that the issue of climate security has become the main challenge facing the Sahel region, in view of the interrelated effects it entails.
It has thus become clear that, in the context of the climate change resilience and adaptation agenda, no response can be considered adequate and coherent if it does not take into account the implications linked to the security issue and its consequences.
In this context, the CCRS welcomed the initiative of the UNDP and its partners to organize a conference on the climate-peace-security nexus in Bamako in November 2023. This conference enabled the various parties to agree, through the ‘Bamako Declaration’, on strategic and operational actions to better address this issue in the Sahel.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In this context, I would like to emphasize that the CCRS, as a stakeholder in this agenda, is actively working, alongside regional organizations, for the successful implementation of this Declaration, whose variations are in line with its strategic and operational vision.
In this regard, I am already thrilled with the implementation and forecasting of a number of actions consistent with the climate security agenda as part of the operationalization of the CCRS.
At the strategic level, the issue of climate security is at the heart of the advocacy and climate diplomacy agenda for all stakeholders, member countries, as well as technical and financial partners, to ensure that this issue is taken into account in the definition and implementation of national, sub-regional and regional policies and strategies in the Sahel.
In the same effort, guidelines have been established to address this issue in the context of the ongoing review of the Climate Investment Plan fot the Sahel region. Consultations with Member States are also planned with a view to revising their third-generation NDCs.
At the continental level, CCRS is pleased to have reaffirmed its full support to the process of defining a common African position on the climate-peace-security nexus and looks forward to ongoing discussions on this agenda with the relevant department of the African Union Commission.
At the operational level, in line with its strategic vision, the CCRS, with some of its partners, has initiated a number of multi-country climate security projects to promote coherent and appropriate actions to better address this issue in the Sahel.
CCRS is also preparing to launch, with the support of the African Development Bank, a study to design a regional climate security Program that will also address food system resilience and access to sustainable energy, two key priorities for resilience policies in the Sahel. The program, funded under P2-P2RS,is the first regional project under the Climate Investment Plan fot the Sahel region, will involve six CCRS member countries: Chad, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
In addition to the above-mentioned actions already initiated, strategic studies are also planned to strengthen knowledge and management of this issue in the Sahel.
I would also like to point out that, as part of the financing agenda, the CCRS has initiated the creation of a facility to mobilize resources in support of resilience, adaptation and pacification in the Sahel. In this regard, the CCRS welcomes the excellent collaboration with some of its partners, in particular UNDP, in the context of this agenda, the process of which will soon be finalized.
This facility, which is planned as a prelude to the effective operationalization of the Sahel Climate Resilience Fund, seems appropriate given that the issue of financing, together with the weak technical and institutional capacity of stakeholders, are the main factors hampering the successful implementation of climate agenda initiatives across the board.
In this regard, I would like to reiterate my call, on behalf of all our member countries, for financing and capacity building to be key priorities on the climate security agenda in the Sahel. This call follows our recent appeal on the sidelines of the Partnership for Scaling Up Climate Action in Situations of Fragility and Conflict, organized by WFP in partnership with the United Arab Emirates in Rome, Italy. This call is also addressed to all partners in the Sahel region in support of a ten-year international pact to finance resilience, adaptation and peace-building in the Sahel. Indeed, the effective operationalization of such a pact is more than timely, given the dimension of the challenges and the serious implications of projecting them into the future in the face of inaction.
The CCRS considers it appropriate to strengthen the framework for dialogue with technical and financial partners on the resilience and peace agenda for the Sahel. It therefore proposes the organization of advocacy events on behalf of this region on the margins of major international meetings on the climate diplomacy and sustainable development agenda.
In this sense, I am pleased to announce the initiative to organize a high-level consultative event on the Sahel on the sidelines of the upcoming COP 29. This event, for which we are seeking the support and effective participation of UNDP and other partners, should serve as a framework for the exchange of information on the actions undertaken by the various actors, with a view to agreeing on the joining of efforts to better address the issue of climate security and its consequences in the Sahel. I’m already delighted that the WFP is ready to collaborate in the organization of this important event.
I can’t conclude without reiterating the need to formalize the partnership framework between UNDP, CCRS and our other sub-regional organizations (Liptako Gourma Authority, Lac Chad Bassin Commission)involved in the Sahel climate agenda.
This collaborative framework, in which we have a keen interest, should provide a roadmap of priority actions in terms of capacity building, formulation and implementation of structuring projects, advocacy and resource mobilization.
In this sense, and in line with its strategic vision, I reiterate the full commitment of the CCRS to work towards the success of such a partnership framework.
Thank you for your attention.
