Development Ministers meeting

"Enhancing the international community’s efforts for the Sahel region"

2 FACTS

  • Farming represents the livelihood of a large majority of the population, yet they also face chronic poverty and food insecurity.
  • By 2030, nine out of ten people living in extreme poverty globally will be in sub-Saharan African, and particularly in the Sahel.

The Development Ministers meeting will be held in Paris on 4 July. It will focus on stepping up the international community’s efforts to support the Sahel region’s development. The region continues to suffer many difficulties and fragilities that require a collective, integrated response.

3 GOALS:

  • preventing fragilities and crises;
  • supporting job creation for young people in rural areas and combatting malnutrition;
  • investing in human capital and digital technology in Africa.

This meeting will seek to address these issues through three goals:

1/ Preventing fragilities and crises: the Sahel countries are affected by multiple sources of fragility, and the many resulting crises require a collective, integrated response from the international community. This response needs to involve a continuum of diplomacy, security, humanitarian, stabilization and development efforts.

2/ Supporting job creation for young people in rural areas and combatting malnutrition: farming (including livestock farming) represents the livelihood of a large majority of the population of the Sahel, yet they also face chronic poverty and food insecurity. Moreover, hundreds of millions of young people will be entering the job market in Africa by 2030, and particularly in Sahel, while the agricultural sector offers considerable opportunities to create decent jobs for the future.

3/ Investing in human capital and digital technology in Africa: themes will be explored including investment in human capital, reducing the digital divide, and innovative financing, in order to create innovative new tools and a strong partnership between the G7, international organizations and African partners.