Food Security and Nutrition Regional Support Program (PRA/SAN)

The Sub-Regional Action Program to Combat Desertification in West Africa and Chad (PASR-AO) is the CILSS reference document for combating desertification. The PASR/AO is a framework for guiding, arbitrating and ensuring the coherence of actions to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought. CILSS provides the technical secretariat. To this end, under the aegis of the two focal points, CILSS and ECOWAS, contacts have been made with various partners to better involve them in the implementation of the CCD at sub-regional and national levels. Partnership agreements were signed with the unccd Secretariat, the Global Mechanism, the French Cooperation, the German Cooperation, the Canadian Cooperation, the American Cooperation and the European Union.
In March 2002, the West African Environment Ministers decided to make this program the gateway to the environment component of NEPAD. This decision led CILSS and ECOWAS to take greater account of environmental issues linked to biological diversity, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals and the results of the Johannesburg Summit in their SRAP implementation activities.