KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• On June 18, a U.S. delegation—led by Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Nancy Lindborg and Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Food Security Greg Gottlieb—attended a high-level meeting convened by the E.U.’s European Commission to discuss the Sahel food insecurity and nutrition crisis. At the conference, donor governments, U.N. agencies, regional institutions, and humanitarian and development aid organizations agreed to form the Global Alliance for Resilience Initiative-Sahel (AGIR-Sahel), a partnership to help communities in the Sahel improve their ability to withstand future emergencies. AGIR-Sahel will join and complement existing international resilience-building efforts, such as the Global Alliance for Action for Drought Resilience and Growth.

• As of June 26, swarms of locusts from southern parts of Algeria and Libya had arrived in Kidal Region in northern Mali and Agadez Region in northern Niger. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expects the locusts to continue moving southward into the main agricultural areas of Mali and Niger in the coming weeks, during the key growth period for cereal crops. If left unabated, the locust infestations may result in crop destruction, potentially exacerbating food insecurity in affected areas.

• To assist populations in the Sahel affected by conflict and food insecurity, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is providing more than $5.3 million for additional programs in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal that improve food security, nutritional status, availability of safe drinking water, and access to emergency health care. USAID/OFDA is also providing more than $1 million to augment humanitarian logistical and personnel capacity in the region.