Nuru Burkina Faso Joins Panel at Sahel Regional Knowledge Sharing Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 31, 2024

Contact: Tacy Layne | info@nuruinternational.org 

Saly, Senegal – Nuru Burkina Faso joined a panel discussion at the Sahel Regional Knowledge Sharing Meeting, a Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Coherence, held in Saly, Senegal, on October 21-24. USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, USAID/Senegal, and USAID’s Sahel Regional Office, collaborated with the IDEAL activity to bring together Sahel-based stakeholders from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria for a discussion focused on addressing the regional food crisis. 

Event participants were brought together “to identify collective ways to build longer-term resilience, mitigate the food and nutrition security challenges affecting the Sahel, and identify varying roles played by different types of actors in responding to the crisis.” (FSN Network). Event sessions focused on topics that included:

• engaging communities and championing local ownership of programs
• resilient livelihoods
• agriculture
• the impacts of climate change
• providing support to long-term internally displaced people
• conflict-sensitive programs and social cohesion 

 

“The conference was a learning week for me, I believe that true progress happens when we break down silos—when humanitarian action, development, and peace efforts operate not just in parallel but in partnership. Cultivating peace is an obligation to any resilience or humanitarian effort. And because peace is never granted, we have to work on it constantly.”  – Aïssetou, Nuru Burkina Faso Executive Director 

Nuru Burkina Faso Executive Director Aïssetou contributed to a panel discussion: Building and Maintaining Social Cohesion During Crisis. The group discussed the importance of knowing the context and existing local dynamics before any development interventions. Aïssetou notes that this is paramount to Nuru Burkina Faso’s approach, as its approach is locally-led and interventions are co-created with local communities. Aissetou specifically focused on the importance of including women when engaging with local communities, noting, “Empowering women economically often strengthens household financial security, reduces poverty, and improves children’s welfare. However, increased economic independence can disrupt traditional household dynamics and, in some cases, provoke resistance from the husbands. To mitigate this, Nuru sensitizes men through campaigns or sessions with men and local leaders to raise awareness of the benefits of women’s involvement.”

Nuru Burkina Faso Executive Director Aïssetou and Lutheran World Relief Country Director Kouka Zoungrana at the SRKS event

The Sahel Regional Knowledge Sharing Meeting was an important launch point for next steps in addressing food and nutrition security in the Sahel while supporting lasting resilience. The event cultivated thoughtful discussions around the existing research approaches and tools for making progress. As a next step, event participants will work together to establish a core coordination committees to create a meaningful, lasting impact on development and peacebuilding efforts. Aïssetou and other participants from Burkina Faso will focus on establishing an additional committee to lead the coordination between humanitarian, development, and peace actors to successfully implement programs and avoid the duplication of efforts. 

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About Nuru Burkina Faso: 

Founded in 2022, Nuru Burkina Faso aims to build resilience in the South Central and Central Plateau Regions of Burkina Faso by strengthening farmer agribusinesses through the promotion of sustainable and inclusive approaches. Nuru Burkina Faso is a member of the Nuru Collective, a network of organizations with a shared vision of a world without cycles of unjust poverty, where resilience and hope are cultivated in the most marginalized communities. For more information about Nuru Burkina Faso, please visit Nuru Burkina Faso’s website. 

About USAID: 

On behalf of the American people, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) promotes and demonstrates democratic values abroad and advances a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. In support of America’s foreign policy, USAID leads the U.S. government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance. Click here to learn more about USAID.

About IDEAL: 

The Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) activity is funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and works to support the United States Government’s goal of improving food and nutrition security among the world’s most vulnerable households and communities. IDEAL addresses knowledge and capacity gaps expressed by the food and nutrition security implementing community, supporting them in the design and implementation of effective emergency and non-emergency food security activities. Click here to learn more about IDEAL.