JRS: The complexities of the Sahel

(Vatican Radio) It has been a year since the world’s attention was drawn to the food and nutritional crisis affecting the Sahel region of Africa. $1.2 billion was provided in assistance to around 10 million people across eight countries to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

But according to the World Food Programme, millions of people in the region are still affected by drought, with close to 1.5 million children under the age of five at risk of severe acute malnutrition.


Meanwhile, the conflict in Mali has triggered widespread displacement in the region, uprooting half a million people and placing pressure on communities still recovering from drought.


Jesuit Father Peter Balleis has recently returned from the Sahel region where he saw at first hand efforts to accommodate those who have had to flee their country.

“I have been in Chad and the Jesuit Refugee Service is working in Chad for seven years with refugees from Sudan, Darfur and also internally displaced people and we are working also on the other side of the border in Sudan, Sudan North Darfur for several years and then I have been also in Central Africa.”

Speaking to Lydia O’Kane, Fr Balleis underlined the importance of education in rebuilding lives especially in the field of training.

“We are exploring new ways of doing that (training) perhaps even with online learning to train quickly in the coming years capable people, teachers and other skills because that people will take home.”

He adds that the situation in the Sahel is a complex one, one that JRS will continue reflect on.

Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Fr Peter Balleis