Humanitarian Situation in the Sahel

This event seeks to provide wide-ranging analysis of the humanitarian situation in the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin, and what lessons should be taken for the future.

Humanitarian Situation in the Sahel: Why it Matters

Tuesday 13 October 2020 | 5:00pm - 6:30pm (Paris) | 11:00am - 12:30pm (New York)

>Watch the replay of the event. 

A presentation by Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations

Chaired by Dr Roland Marchal, Researcher, Sciences Po Center for International Studies

Discussed by Dr Nadine Machikou, University of Yaounde II, Cameroun, and Dr Gilles Yabi, founder of the think tank WATHI, Senegal

About Mark Lowcock

The Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG/ERC) is responsible for the oversight of all emergencies requiring United Nations humanitarian assistance. He also acts as the central focal point for governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental relief activities. The ERC also leads the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a unique inter-agency forum for coordination, policy development and decision-making involving the key United Nations and non-United Nations humanitarian partners.

Mark Lowcock began the role of OCHA’s USG/ERC on 1 September 2017. He succeeded Stephen O’Brien. Prior to this, he was Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Development (DFID) in the UK, a role he assumed in 2011. Mr. Lowcock began his career at DFID (formerly the Overseas Development Administration) in 1985, and he served in a diverse range of roles — including overseas postings in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Kenya — in addition to holding leadership positions at headquarters.

About Roland Marchal

With degrees in mathematics and social sciences from the University of Strasbourg, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), and the University of Paris, Roland Marchal is a researcher at Sciences Po Center for International Studies. 

His research focuses on economies and armed conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. Roland Marchal is an author of numerous articles and books, among them: "Two Years Already? Peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia" (CERI, 2020) and “An emerging military power in Central Africa: Chad under Idriss Déby” (Sociétés politiques comparées, 2016)

About Nadine Machikou

Nadine Machikou is a professor of political science; Director of seminars at the International War College of Camaroon; Director of the Center for Study and Research in International and Community Law (University of Yaoundé II); and President of the 2019 agrégation jury of the “Political Section” at the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES). Her work focuses on the practical and symbolic expressions of violence, the political and moral economy of emotions (compassion for Africa, anger in the context of the Anglophone crisis or the Islamist sect Boko Haram, etc.), and public policy & community integration in Africa. She is a visiting professor at several universities, including: The University of Nanterre, the University of Dauphine, the International Institute of Francophonie of the University of Lyon and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. She’s been part of research groups at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies and the University of Notre Dame of Indiana – the latter was a project that focused on another topic of hers: Contending Modernities.  

About Gilles Yabi

Gilles Olakounlé Yabi is the founder and CEO of WATHI, the West Africa Citizen Think Tank launched in 2015. WATHI is a unique participative and multidisciplinary citizen-focused think tank on West African issues (www.wathi.org). Gilles Yabi worked as senior political analyst and later as West Africa Project Director of the International Crisis Group, a think tank dedicated to conflict prevention and resolution. He led the research, policy, advocacy and media work of Crisis Group in West Africa and worked particularly on the political crises and conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Nigeria. Holding a Ph.D in Development economics from the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France, Gilles Yabi also worked as a journalist for the weekly magazine Jeune Afrique in Paris. Dr Yabi has authored dozens of articles and book chapters on African political and economic issues.