Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC)

Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest/OCDE, 2 rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France

Phone : + 33 145248987 / Fax : + 33 145249031

Web site : www.oecd.org/csao

Originally founded by OECD member countries as “Club du Sahel” in 1976 to raise international support and awareness of the drought crisis in the Sahel region, the Club extended its geographic coverage in 2001 to encompass all 17 West African countries.

Together with governments, regional institutions and civil society/private sector organisations, the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) supports the development and implementation of action-oriented policies and investments that take into account the complementarities between local, national and regional levels. It supports West African initiatives to promote medium- and long-term development. The SWAC also helps identify strategic questions on the region’s future and facilitates exchanges between regional actors and OECD member countries that lead to concrete actions on the ground.

Taking into account realities and needs on the ground, the SWAC focuses its work on four areas of concentration: medium- and long-term development perspectives; rural transformation and sustainable development; governance, conflict dynamics, peace and security; local development and the process of regional integration.