According to bank provided information, the "Prevenir les Risques par la Stabilisation au Lac Tchad" (PROSTABLT) project addresses the issue of fragility and the crucial need for recovery in the Lake Chad region. The region, tested by years of security crisis and the impact of climate change, needs to reduce the risks of perpetuating or even aggravating tensions, and restore the factors that will enable populations to resume development. The areas around Lake Chad have higher poverty rates than other parts of the countries concerned, chronic deficits in human capital, and a historic lack of access to basic services and infrastructure. With regard to the economy, two aggravating factors have taken on greater importance: violent conflicts over the past decade and climate change over a longer period, affecting the Lake, its water flow, its extent and the situation of riparian lands, among other things. As a result, access to major market areas has contracted, making it more difficult to carry out the agricultural, fishing and livestock activities that underpin the local economy. The causes and effects of these factors are cumulative: conflict, outbreaks of violence, emigration and displacement, land degradation, alienation of young people, reduced effectiveness of public institutions and services. To break out of this vicious circle of precariousness, a movement to restore access to basic social services, including protection and security, and to project populations, especially young people and women, towards suitable economic prospects is necessary, in line with national and regional strategies, as well as those of development institutions such as the Bank.

The project aims to prevent the socio-economic risks associated with fragility and conflict in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) through a stabilization approach. It will contribute to reducing the risks of crisis and conflict resumption or contagion in BLT localities, after they have been mitigated today. It will build the socio-economic resilience of communities in areas affected by violent extremism and forced population displacement. It will also strengthen the climatic resilience of communities and ecosystems, and reduce fragility. The desired impact is the prevention and reduction of conflicts, and the return of populations to the Lake Chad Basin region. The objectives will be 1) to improve community security, access to justice and restore essential services, 2) to revitalize the local economy and create sustainable jobs for women and young people, and finally, 3) to strengthen social cohesion, regional cooperation and project management.

The direct beneficiaries, users of the social infrastructure built or rehabilitated, will reach 125,200 people, half of whom will be women and girls, the other half young people aged between 15 and 34. At least 2,550 small local economic operators, 52% of them women and 66% young people aged between 15 and 34, will be supported through component 2 to increase local employment. These direct beneficiaries of the social, administrative and commercial infrastructures break down as follows: 21,000 for the localities of Ngourtou Koumboua, Mahada and Daboua, 25,000 for Baga Sola,30,000 for Karal and Mani in Chad and 11,200 for the localities of Kolofata, Mokolo, Mozogo, Makari, Hile Alifa, Logone Birn, and 35,000 for Fotokol and Tourou and 3,000 for Kousseri and Mora in Cameroon.
The indirect beneficiaries of this project are the populations affected by the activities of the Boko Haram group (over 483,000 people estimated as indirect beneficiaries, particularly women and young people) in the communes prioritized by the stabilization strategy. In Cameroon, they reside in the departments of Mayo Tsanaga, Mayo Sava and Logone et Chari, in seven communes that have been prioritized since the previous phase of the project due to the extensive destruction suffered during the attacks. In Chad, the target populations come from the localities of Daboua, Mahada, Tchoukouboul, Bol and Ngourtou Koumboua in the Lac and Hadjer Lamis provinces of Chad. They are still subject to periodic incursions and therefore carry a high mental burden.
Representatives of youth and women's associations were met in both countries during the preparatory and assessment missions. Their contributions made it possible to identify certain risks weighing on these populations, be they security-related, linked to precariousness, lack of financial education or lack of social autonomy. This will help guide the project's strategies for capacity building and sustainable access to financial resources. The project's stakeholders will include: the Far North women's network, the platform of community mediators.

Anne PERROT-BIHINA
Education Economist-TVET Expert, AHHD3
African Development Bank
www.afdb.org

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