General

Assessed contributions are made to a number of UN agencies arising from Ireland’s membership of organisations such as the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the International Office for Migration (IOM), the UN Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Contributions are also made to initiatives that reflect Ireland's commitment to multilateralism.

Objectives

UNIDO serves as a forum and broker for knowledge transfer on industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalisation and environmental sustainability. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration and to promote international cooperation on migration issues. UNCCD works to improve the condition of affected ecosystems, combat desertification/land degradation and promote sustainable land management.

Objectives

Long term vision, which takes stock of lessons learnt from past initiatives, developed leading to institutional strengthening of the GGWI and mobilization of adequate investments for a resilient and sustainable Sahel.

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

This region does not present only challenges, it has enormous potential opportunities: considerable arable land resources, significant mineral resources (petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, gold, uranium, iron, etc.), immense livestock, marine and freshwater resources. The Saharo-Sahelian area has also significant surface water resources with numerous rivers and lakes (Niger, Gambia and Senegal rivers, Lake Chad, etc.) and the large underground water tables are among the largest aquifers on the continent. The potential for solar energy is huge. The Sahel has a sunshine of about 4300 h per year with the potential to generate more than 2200kWh / m2 / year, clearly above the African average. Biodiversity (avian fauna, mammals, reptiles, insects, etc.) is rich and varied despite the great losses that the region has suffered.It should be noted that efforts to restore land in many countries have led to a regreening of certain areas, mainly due to the practice of assisted natural regeneration.The socio-economic benefits of the project are multiple at various levels: regional, national and local. The project will contribute through greater complementarity and synergy of interventions carried out through other initiatives, in particular LDCF / SCCF. This greater coherence will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the activities with an increased impact for the benefit of the populations. The results will lead to the reinforcement of land restoration capacities and adaptation of populations to climate change. More broadly the project will contribute to the following socioeconomic and environmental medium and long term impacts.· Promote comprehensive land-use planning to better target and scale-up integrated natural resource management, including practices for landscape restoration and increased resilience,· Promote policies to increase tenure security and rights of Local Communities and Indigenous People, including pastoralists for harmonizing land use practices and reduction of conflict between resident and nomadic communities,· Promote policy options to unlock market opportunities and innovative financing for diversified livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists, and · Promote universal access to renewable energy and local carbon pathways for economic growth and development.

Objectives

Project Objective: Restore and maintain critical ecosystem services of globally significant riverine forest landscapes along the River Nile in Sudan. 50,878 ha of riverine forest ecosystems managed to benefit biodiversity and maintain productive value “Core Indicator 4”. 20,000 private agriculturalists, livestock herders, and forest users (10,000 female/10,000 male) reporting stable or improved standard of living resulting from BD conservation mainstreaming

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

10. Benefits 1. The project will directly benefit approximately 20,000 smallholder farmers, livestock herders, and forest users. As noted, these persons are highly reliant upon riverine ecosystems and associated benefits. Intact riverine forests are invaluable in terms of flood and erosion mitigation. These ecosystems are also critical in terms of provisioning fuelwood and NTFPs. Riverine forests provide habitat for a host of species and important nurseries for fisheries upon which many local residents rely for subsistence and commerce. Importantly, riverine ecosystems offer potential to provide local residents and livelihoods to greater resilience to climate change. 2. The livelihoods of these producers are currently at risk and are further threatened by the sustained trend in deforestation, land degradation, decreasing agriculture and livestock productivity, decreasing water availability, climate change, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services all leading to deteriorating living conditions and wellbeing of local communities. The project will reverse this trend by providing rural smallholders with the opportunities to access knowledge, information, capacity and experience to adopt improved practices. These practices will result in GEBs, but also increased the standards of living, food security, and climate change resiliency of these at-risk rural dwellers. 3. The top priority to re-engineer the social contract between forest managers and communities, according to the respondents to the household survey conducted during the PPG phase, is creating a strong incentive for local communities to be part of the solution towards establishing a co-management approach of the riverine landscape. Doing so entails supporting local communities to generate alternative income streams through the sustainable valorization of biodiversity-based products, with a special focus on women and girls’ empowerment as explained in details in the Gender Action Plan. By improving productive practices and enabling a better valorization of natural resources along local value chains, with increased livelihoods and income, the project is expected to have knock-on impacts in terms of economic development and associated increases in employment opportunity. 4. At the governance level, national benefits will accrue to a variety of agencies. This will include the ability to more efficiently and effectively address deforestation issues. The results of more integrated and collaborative approaches to biodiversity conservation will also increase the cost-effectiveness of current divergent investments in a context of financial scarcity post COVID-19. These investments and associated human resources will be harmonized to directly address degradation and increase synergistic responses. This will include capacity building, limited supply of better equipment, and access to knowledge and capacity based upon best international and regional principles and practices.