Ending the Everyday Emergency. Resilience and Children in the Sahel

The Sahel crisis of 2012 is likely to dramatically increase the “resilience
deficit” and the extent of vulnerability. Addressing this deficit calls for a major
paradigm shift in how chronic hunger crises are addressed. In the Sahel, there
are few examples of communities in high risk-prone areas that have managed
to protect and increase resilience of the most vulnerable households, in terms
of reducing chronic hunger and shocking levels of child malnutrition.
The existing system for promoting resilience has to change. Business as usual
will continue to fail the people of the Sahel. A different approach, one that
includes social transfers designed to directly help the poorest and most
vulnerable families with food programmes sourced from local small-scale
farmers and other steps, is essential.
The specific needs of the chronically food insecure populations, and chronically
malnourished children, must become a long-term priority within integrated
humanitarian and development action, not just during crises. In light of this,
the repor t presents recommendations for national governments, regional
structures, UN agencies, donors, international organisations, and civil society,
to overcome the resilience deficit.