GCERF Regional Funding Mechanism Formalised for Sahel

Burkina Faso – Last month, GCERF’s Regional Funding Mechanism for the Sahel, a multistakeholder body that supports the management of GCERF programming in the region, held its inaugural meeting to validate the Funding Mechanism. During the meeting, stakeholders representing governments, donors, and the G5 Sahel approved the selection of nine civil society organisations focused on preventing violent extremism (VE) and building community resilience in the Sahel’s Liptako-Gourma region, which includes parts of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

The meeting brought together participants from the G5 Sahel, the Liptako-Gourma Authority, and from the Country Support Mechanism – which is made up of representatives of government, civil society, private sector, donors, and multilateral and regional organisations from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger. The Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), European Union and Germany Missions based in Ouagadougou, and the Coopération Décentralisée transfrontalière des Collectivités Territoriales du Sahel (C3 Sahel) also contributed.

Mr Mahamadou Samaké, Head of the G5 Sahel Governance Department said that, “the G5 Sahel Executive Secretariat and the ALG have just designed, with their partner GCERF, an innovative and efficient solution to the issue of financing that all our organisations face”.

GCERF’s investment in the Sahel is aimed at supporting local organisations to design and implement community-led solutions to the root causes of violent extremism. The programming includes strengthening existing conflict resolution and resource management platforms and setting up new community-level structures to improve social cohesion and to strengthen the role of at-risk groups in community life. The programming proposed by local organisations also includes sustainable rehabilitation and integration of former members of non-state armed groups, improving pastoralism to reduce conflict and introducing platforms for the improved management of natural resources, which research has highlighted as a key driver of violent extremism in the region.

“What is exciting about the Sahel programme is the participatory and consultative approach,” said Mr Moctar Kane, GCERF Country Manager. “Collaboration with local and national authorities, in-country donors, local experts, and communities provides a shared understanding of priorities and ensures that GCERF’s Sahel Strategy addresses current needs and is fit-for-purpose.”

“It is no longer just about preventing violent extremism. It’s also about repairing the damage [extremism] may have caused in local societies,” said His Excellency Ambassador Wolfram Vetter, European Union Representative for Burkina Faso.

The Regional Funding Mechanism panel will manage operations and guide project implementation, monitoring, and sharing of good practices and lessons learned among existing mechanisms in the Sahel. It will ensure that proposed grant investments are aligned, coordinated, and complementary to other initiatives in the region.

Think Peace, UFC Dori, RAJ, ICD and ASN were among the organisations approved by the Regional Funding Mechanism for the first round of GCERF funding. Four other organisations will also receive funding in a second round: KEOOGO, FEDE, MOJEDEC and RECOPA.