USAID/West Africa (USAID/WA) seeks to help West Africans meet the 21st century challenges they face by delivering programmatic and support services across a region spanning 21 countries with a population of 367 million.
West Africa’s diverse nations are connected by shared development opportunities and challenges, many of which are transboundary in nature or best approached collectively. For example, violent extremist groups operate across borders, and limiting their reach and influence requires a regional approach. Ecologically significant areas are often shared, and climate change affects the entire region. Increasing intra-regional trade and improving food security are, by their very nature, regional challenges. Improving access to quality health services and better controlling epidemics is more effective with regional cooperation and information sharing.
Cooperation on such shared issues is seen vital to self-reliance by West African nations, who believe that they are stronger together. West Africa’s empowered and active regional institutions provide logical partners to advance collective action on such shared issues. As we deliver our programmatic services at the local, national and regional levels, we will engage with these institutions to leverage the benefits of that collective action to complement the much larger U.S. Government bilateral programming in West Africa.
“It is our goal that through strong collaboration with our regional, national and local partners, we increase inclusive, social and economic development in a more resilient, democratic and integrated West Africa.”
Daniel Moore: USAID/West Africa Mission Director and Peter Trenchard: USAID/Senegal Mission Director
Anchored in four regional development objectives (RDOs), this joint Regional Development Cooperation Strategy (RDCS) between the West Africa Regional Mission and the USAID/Senegal/Regional Office provides a regional lens into an approach to countries that are contiguous and share economic, cultural, and social dynamics along with issues of conflict, poverty and inequality.
RDO 2: Inclusive Broad-based Economic Growth Advanced
RDO 3: Government, Institutions, and Partners Catalyzed to Strengthen Health Systems
RDO 4: Vulnerability of Targeted Populations Reduced
For more information about the West Africa and USAID/Senegal/Sahel Regional Office’s RDCS, please email the Regional Program Office ACCRAAIDWARPO-DL@usaid.gov.
Read full report: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/USAID_West-Africa-and-USAID_Senegal_SRO_RDCS.pdf
