About
Africa's Sahel region is a geographic belt that is 1,000 km wide and 5,400 km long, cutting across Northern Africa from Senegal's Atlantic coast to the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. This semi-arid region is located between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savannah to the South.
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The region historically experiences the most consistent and extreme droughts in Africa, which severely impacts the livelihoods of people in the Sahel region, resulting in some of the most socio-economically deprived people in the world, mass migration, and instability.
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Against the backdrop of the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency and the COVID-19 pandemic, other factors like population growth, climate change, environmental damages, disease, poverty, and illiteracy have stifled development in the extreme north or Sahel region of Nigeria.
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Severe water shortages in Northern Nigeria have also led to conflict between farmers and herders, internal displacement, abuse of children who travel long distances in search of water, child illiteracy as a result of children having to prioritize the search for water over education, and the spread of communicable diseases.
Working Towards a Better Tomorrow
The Sahel Initiative was formed to help combat this water problem. We are an all-volunteer group of individuals that aim to bridge the gap caused by water unavailability by ensuring affected rural communities in the region have safe and equitable access to a sufficient quantity of water for their domestic needs.
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Access to safe water can turn rural problems into potential — unlocking education, economic opportunity and improved health for the many women, children, and communities in the Sahel region of Nigeria.
We aim to do this by sinking a borehole every quarter with donations from a small group of committed donors contributing between $15 - $45 each cycle.
We also have pre-existing partnerships with local Nigerian organizations and have collaborated on several similar projects to ensure that our activities are contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals - in particular SDG 6 - to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and; SDG 15 - to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
We believe that clean water is the essence of life and
a birthright for everyone regardless of socio-economic status
Our Vision
Our vision is to build a future in which all people living in the Sahel region of Nigeria have access to clean and safe water.
We strive to secure adequate, sustainable, and equitable water resources to enable families and communities to thrive. By doing so, we hope to reduce poverty, improve health outcomes, increase educational attainment and economic development in these underserved areas.
We are committed to working with local stakeholders, including governments, private sector actors, civil society organizations and local communities, to ensure a holistic approach towards mitigating water insecurity.
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Through our work we seek to empower individuals and families living in the region by increasing their access to potable water sources which will enable them to improve livelihoods; increase agricultural production; engage in resource stewardship; as well as promote equitable gender roles within families.
Our Mission
To provide easy access to safe drinking water the rural communities in the Sahel region.
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The Sahel region is home to some of the most socio-economically deprived people in the world. The vicious cycle of disease, poverty and illiteracy has emasculated development. Water shortage has led to conflict, children abused while traveling long distances in search of water, internal displacement and the spread of communicable diseases.
The Sahel Initiative aims to help poor rural communities particularly those that have been afflicted by strife in the following ways:
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Provide drinking water to disadvantaged communities particularly those recovering from conflict by:
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Sinking new deep wells/ boreholes
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Rehabilitating water supply systems
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Sustainable water purification technology where surface water is available
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Develop a reforestation programme alongside water provision
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Partner with sister NGOs in a community upliftment programme
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