2024 NIGER Projet RÉELS trasnfert Lina whatsapp 14

Ongoing project

Ecosystem Resilience and Women's Leadership in the Sahel (RÉELS)

NigerBurkina FasoMali

Women's and girls' rightsAdapting to climate change

Date

April 2023 to March 2028

Financial contribution

$30,000,000 CAD

Global Affairs Canada (CECI's contribution: 1.5 millions)

Impact for

1,056,204 women

The REELS project aims to support women and their communities in adapting to climate change. It directly impacts over 700,000 women and 300,000 men in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Designed and implemented by CECI in close collaboration with the Community Stabilization and Recovery Project in the Sahel, it would not have been possible without its partners. These include the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and Women in Law and Development Burkina Faso / Mali / Niger (WILDAF).

The REELS project aims to reduce women's vulnerability to climate change by developing their leadership and promoting more sustainable and adapted agroforestry techniques. These practices enhance the resilience of ecosystems in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of the Liptako-Gourma, thereby contributing to food security and gender equality in the region.

Objectives

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Inclusive Community Development Plans

Through an inclusive process, each community creates its development plan. To effectively address climate change, these plans must integrate nature-based solutions. Such solutions bring benefits to ecosystems as well as to women and other marginalized groups.

Harnessing Women's Leadership for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

With increased empowerment, women can provide greater leadership within their communities. Their participation facilitates the implementation of solutions to climate challenges. Ultimately, women's inclusion in natural resource management will contribute to social cohesion, a critical element for peacebuilding in this fragile region.

Understanding the Best Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change

By promoting greater influence of women in decision-making spaces, the project aims to establish sustainable nature conservation strategies. Through national and regional studies, the REELS project contributes to the creation of knowledge on these strategies. It rigorously documents ecosystem-based adaptation approaches to climate change that rely on increased women's leadership.

Understanding the Best Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change

Ecosystem Conservation

Women's Resilience to the Effects of Climate Change

Droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events affect the entire Sudano-Sahelian ecosystem. Vulnerability assessments, particularly by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), show limited adaptation capacity in the region. Climate change significantly impacts the Liptako-Gourma area, fueling local conflicts.

Women bear the acute consequences. Droughts and floods reduce agricultural and forestry yields. Their lands, already marginal, are at higher risk. They also must travel farther to gather firewood. As this project progresses, local communities are encouraged to change practices to promote soil and ecosystem restoration and conservation. Greater ecosystem resilience helps mitigate local conflicts and ensures better food security.