Moving ahead…CILSS paves the way for institutional change
Under Africa Lead, the Permanent Inter‐State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) sought support to help improve operational capacity to deliver and manage food security and drought resilience interventions across the Sahel. Based on a detailed evaluation of CILSS, Africa Lead worked closely with the organization to develop a program to address capacity gaps in areas such as leadership, human resources management, communications, and monitoring and evaluation.
Training programs have equipped CILSS staff with skills necessary to operate with a more result-oriented focus and have translated into significant improvements in its internal and external communication. Through the Young Professional and Internship program, efforts succeeded in introducing new communication tools and technologies. Additional training on budgeting and writing proposals strengthened CILSS’ competencies in the area of fund mobilization.
Building on work performed under the predecessor program, Africa Lead II recently assembled a team to review CILSS’ 2009-2013 strategic work plan to identify further areas for development and growth. The assignment involved in depth capacity assessments across the three CILSS locations- Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, as well as other CONACILSS countries such as Guinea, Cape Verde and Cote d’Ivoire.
Africa Lead II will continue to provide strategic long-term capacity development interventions to enable CILSS to realize its vision, mission and mandate of finding solutions to improve food security and combat the effects of drought and desertification.