This morning marked the launch of the synthesis report “Moving from Reaction to Action: Anticipating Vulnerability Hotspots in the Sahel” in support of the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS).

The report is a product of the Sahel Predictive Analytics project, in which VIEWS has served as a key partner over the past two years, contributing to an extensive data collation effort and providing conflict predictions, risk analyses, and strategic recommendations for decision-makers. The results of these endeavours are presented in the report.

Read the press release from UNHCR

About the project

The PA project doubles down on the special challenges facing the Sahel across the triple nexus of humanitarian aid, peace-building and development. Its aim is to help guide decision-makers by anticipating and quickly identifying where multiple risks overlap to allow for better preparedness and to support context analysis, planning, training, and capacity-building, while also outlining where additional data is needed. 

The PA initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and facilitated by UNHCR in support of the office of the UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel. It was initiated by the High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) and subsequently the Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) as the first whole-of-UN system approach that combines machine learning, predictive modelling, and strategic foresight to identify risk hotspots in the Sahel.