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Sahel and West Africa Week 2015
The Sahel and West Africa Week 2015
The Sahel and West Africa Week 2015 will take place in Milan from 26 to 30 October. Organised in collaboration with Expo Milano 2015, the Week will raise public awareness of the Expo’s theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” from a West African perspective. The Expo represents a unique opportunity for stakeholders and partners to showcase their achievements and to share knowledge on how to improve food and nutrition security and increase resilience in the region. The Week will bring together regional organisations, representatives from West African governments and OECD countries, and experts in several events, including a two-day Forum to discuss the impact of on-going transformations on food security and resilience; a special session of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) and a meeting of the Senior Experts Group of the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR) – Sahel and West Africa. The Week is organised by the Sahel and West Africa Club and its Members and partners, by invitation of the European Union.
Bringing together some 300 people, the Sahel and West Africa Week (SWAW) is a yearly appointment of SWAC Members, partners and networks. It has become “the place to be” for the region’s development stakeholders, a unique space for informal exchange, networking and building partnerships. In 2015, SWAW will take place from 26-30 October within the Expo 2015, with a special focus on food security.
It draws on an inclusive process of dialogue, mutual learning and partnership building for improved policies:
People: Raise awareness of West African experiences and particularly the role of women in building resilience and sustainability
Policies: Share innovative thinking and approaches to promoting regional food and nutrition security
Partnerships: Strengthen linkages between regional food security policies and practices and relevant international policy processes
The Week will be comprised of:
A Forum focusing on West African transformations and their implications for food security, nutrition, resilience and sustainability
A special session of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) followed by a Senior Experts’ Group meeting of the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR)
A meeting of the SWAC’s Strategy and Policy Group (SPG), reviewing progress and work priorities.
Co-ordinated by the SWAC Secretariat, SWAW benefits from the direct involvement of SWAC Members – in particular of West African regional organisations and partners such as the Nepad Agency and the European Union. Most of the events will be hosted within the European pavilion.
The Forum
The Forum will provide the opportunity for a stock-taking exercise of debates and exchanges among stakeholders, researchers and practitioners developed over the six months’ duration of the Expo. It will also be the occasion to present real-life experiences and provocative thoughts, in the true spirit of an universal exhibition. Raising awareness and sharing knowledge and experiences are instrumental to mobilising commitment to working together toward the common food security and resilience agenda. This iterative process of reflection, questioning, knowledge-sharing and engagement starts here.
Follow the Forum’s preparation and send us your feedback, questions and suggestions.
The Forum will be organised in three sessions:
Session 1: Understanding change in West Africa
Session 2: Unlocking West Africa's potential
Session 3: Promoting innovative tools, approaches and policies regionally and globally
RPCA special session
The special session of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) aims to promote the Network's action and achievements to a wider audiences. A short documentary film will present the Network’s history, key achievements and remaining challenges. The meeting will also present the various Network tools designed to enhance the regional governance of food security and allow the West African region to share its experience with similar initiatives in other regions and continents.
Three thematic discussions will focus on the following key achievements or tools:
The Charter for Food Crisis Prevention and Management
The Charter’s instruments: early warning system, the “Harmonised Framework” for a vulnerability analysis of at-risk households and zones
The Regional Food Security Reserve
A second session will be dedicated to the Global Alliance for Resilience (AGIR) - Sahel and West Africa which will hold its Senior Experts' Group meeting (SEG-AGIR) within the RPCA. The group will review progress made in formulating "National Resilience Priorities" (NRPs) and seek to accelerate their implementation. Almost all Sahelian and West African countries have started formulating their resilience priorities. The RPCA plans to organise a high-level conference at the invitation of ECOWAS and UEMOA on the financing of the 2016-20 national resilience priorities, to be held in October/November 2015. While fostering the involvement of all AGIR stakeholders in the funding of NRPs, this Conference will help prepare national fundraising dialogues, and provide an opportunity to further promote coherence and develop more effective partner support for resilience initiatives in the region.
