STOCKHOLM, October 2025 — A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) highlights the challenges and strengths of a major initiative attempting to harmonize humanitarian aid, development, and peacebuilding in the troubled Sahel region. The Sahel Resilience Partnership (SRP), funded by the German government, is an effort to move “From Silos to Synergies” by uniting the German development agency, GIZ, with two United Nations entities, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The partnership operates in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, and is a practical example of operationalizing the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus. The SRP’s core strategy is a coordinated, multisectoral approach encompassing food and nutrition security, climate-resilient ecosystems, social services, and conflict resolution, all aimed at enhancing resilience to shocks and fostering social cohesion.
According to the report, co-authored by Dr. Simone Bunse, Dr. Caroline Delgado, and Rachel Blair, the SRP has notable strengths, including a multilevel steering structure and an adaptable joint regional plan. Dr. Delgado, Director of the SIPRI Food, Peace and Security Programme, is listed as a co-author.
Navigating Political Turmoil and Coordination Hurdles
Despite the promising design, the SRP faces significant headwinds. The report points to “persistent operational challenges,” particularly in navigating political instability and governance issues in the Sahel. The convergence of global crises in the region—including escalating humanitarian needs, reversals in development, and diminished peace prospects—is an “unprecedented” critical problem. This complexity makes an integrated HDP approach essential.
Political events, such as coups, can severely complicate the work. Following the 2023 coup in Niger, for example, the German government advised against formal cooperation with government institutions, opting for a strictly technical approach. The researchers found that military involvement in political leadership changes has been frequent, with seven successful or attempted coups/transitions in the Sahel between August 2020 and January 2025.
Furthermore, internal coordination among the three partner agencies—GIZ, UNICEF, and the WFP—remains “laborious and complicated”. Coordination is challenging because the agencies have different mandates, budgets, timelines, and organizational set-ups. For instance, GIZ works with a project logic and dedicated staff for its Sahel Resilience Strengthening (SARES) project, while UNICEF and the WFP use a more programmatic, country-based approach.
The report notes the difficulty in achieving “thorough geographical and programmatic convergence”. In fact, some workshop participants concluded that geographical convergence, where partners concentrate their efforts in the same villages, “cannot be perfect and cannot be everywhere”.
The Path to Deeper Complementarity
To overcome these hurdles and deepen collaboration, the report offers several recommendations for the SRP and other HDP organizations. A key suggestion is to “seek operational convergence at village level for deeper complementarity,” even if this means a “trade-off between breadth and depth of coverage”.
The authors stress the need to strengthen knowledge management to address challenges related to frequent staff rotation and ensure that resilience activities are intentionally designed to be complementary. Another crucial point is to improve data management: “Sharing and systematically comparing available data more proactively, harmonizing selected indicators for joint assessments and improving data-management tools to avoid overlap” is necessary.
By mainstreaming social cohesion and intentionally building on one another’s strengths—such as GIZ’s focus on local governance and peacebuilding, complementing UNICEF’s and WFP’s work in nutrition, health, and education —the SRP aims to move toward greater resilience and reduced need for humanitarian assistance.
