UN, World Bank chiefs heading to Africa's Sahel

UNITED NATIONS (AP) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim are heading to Africa this weekend with a new plan and additional money to tackle the roots of long-running conflict and under-development in the impoverished Sahel region.

The joint visit will start Monday in conflict-torn Mali and continue to Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. On Tuesday, Ban and Kim will attend a regional ministerial meeting in Mali's capital, Bamako.

"The leaders of the Sahel are coming together to tackle their challenges in a concerted way," Ban said. "We are convinced that the cycle of crises in the Sahel can be broken. The region can move from fragility to sustainability."

He said the crisis in Mali where a March 2012 coup led to an Islamic jihadist takeover of the north and French intervention to oust them "underscored the need to do more than fight fires in the region."

The Sahel, stretching from Mauritania to Eritrea, has suffered three major droughts in less than a decade, Ban said.

More than 11 million people are at risk of hunger and 5 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition, he said. In addition unconstitutional changes in governments, terrorist acts and organized crime threaten the region's stability.

"These challenges cannot be overcome by any government or organization alone," Ban said. "We must take a regional approach. The challenges in the region respect no borders neither should our solutions."

Kim said by video-link from Washington that the bank expects to make "an extremely robust" commitment to the Sahel, which will be announced Monday.

"Our aim is to address the root causes of poverty, conflict and helplessness," Kim said. "We will mobilize substantial public and private resources in support, strengthen social safety nets, lower the cost of energy and expand support for irrigation and pastoralism."

The World Bank will also support small and medium-size businesses and help foster an improved climate for investment, he said.