PATRIP’s Projects in West Africa
Social Cohesion
Multi-sectoral
Transport
PATRIP currently supports projects in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Benin. Political and social stability in these countries has been continuously eroding in the past years. The West African context increasingly becomes one of the world’s hotspots of fragmentation and violence. To address these worrying dynamics, the PATRIP Supervisory board decided to extend the PATRIP Foundation’s scope from its previous focus on border regions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Therefore, in 2019, PATRIP began applying its approaches and experiences in the West African context.
Overview
Active in Region since: July 2019
Donor Commitments: 10,551,251.12 EUR
Donors: German Federal Foreign Office (FFO)
Current Projects: 8
Current Partners: Welthungerhilfe, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, Danish Refugee Council/Danish Demining Group, African Parks Network, Interpeace, Search for Common Ground
Despite the different context, the PATRIP Foundation’s experience of supporting projects in fragile border areas made it possible to launch projects with 8 new partners. PATRIP’s unique approach to both monitoring of projects as well as strengthening its network of partner NGOs through regular workshops has proven to be fruitful in the new context as well.
The local monitoring partner based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has started a partnership with PATRIP’s longstanding monitoring consultant. This has ensured a rapid exchange of expertise and the streamlining of PATRIP’s monitoring procedures in both project regions. Moreover, workshops are being conducted in the capitals of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, in order to quickly build robust ties between PATRIP’s new partners and open valuable channels of communication between the implementing NGOs.
PATRIP’s focus in West Africa
With its current projects in the border regions of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, and Niger, PATRIP focuses on both the strengthening of social cohesion through dialogue and conflict resolution, as well as on providing vital community infrastructure particularly benefitting youth and women. Special emphasis is placed on the Liptako-Gourma region, which has been at the centre of destabilising incidents. The combination between dialogue and mediation measures with PATRIP’s emphasis on infrastructure creates relevant opportunities to prevent conflict by bringing border communities closer together and providing them with a sense of participation and security where state presence is generally low.
As projects progress, they will be featured on the website in more detail.
The PATRIP Foundation supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, all member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda, whose main purpose was the introduction of 17 goals for sustainable development (SDGs). The goals aim at the joint creation of a world in which people are able to live together peacefully, as well as in ecologically compatible, socially just, and economically effective ways.
The described project contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
