Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion project

Start & End Date: 2022-2027

Country/Countries: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo

Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: World Bank

Case Study: Available

The Gulf of Guinea faces multidimensional challenges. Those include both internal tensions (e.g. due to a high level of inequality and the lack of economic opportunities and prosperity) and external threats (e.g. climate change, conflicts in the Sahel zone). Social cohesion is one main key to create resilience towards those crises. Local actors and institutions are key drivers to foster this social cohesion. However, they often lack the resources and structures needed. Especially border-zone communities need mechanisms to coorperate and to improve cross-border impacts.

The aim is to strengthen local border-zone institutions. By doing so, social cohesion and trust in local instutions can be enhanced. By this bottom-up approach, local actors are enabled to target challenges faced by the local population. This is necessary to create resilience towards climate change and regional conflicts, especially in the Sahel area. The project coisists of five componentes: 1) Investments in Resilience and inclusion of community, 2) Reinforcement of foundation and capacities for inclusive and resilient communities, 3) Regional plattforms of coordination and dialogue, 4) Project management, 5) Emergency Response Component.