New observatory to track progress of Africa's Great Green Wall 

The Great Green Wall Observatory, a digital platform that will help track progress of Africa's largest land restoration initiative, was unveiled on 27-29 May following the meeting of 11 participating countries in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The Observatory was developed by the Great Green Wall Accelerator, hosted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as part of its supporting role to the Pan African Agency for the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) and other partners.  

The Great Green Wall is an ambitious and transformative Initiative launched by the African Union in 2007 to combat land degradation, desertification, and the negative impacts of climate change in the Sahel region of Africa.  

Across the African continent, degrading land jeopardizes farmers' livelihoods and shapes economies heavily reliant on agriculture, compromising public health and education, while also destabilizing regional and global trade, and being a major driver of conflicts and forced migration.  

Restoring land is essential for safeguarding ecosystems, driving economic growth, mitigating natural disasters, and enhancing land productivity and food supplies. This is of particular importance in the Sahel, where political and security challenges make progress a matter of urgency. Success in this region offers a model for other areas facing similar challenges, demonstrating that humanity can overcome adversity and promote sustainable development. 

The Great Green Wall Accelerator, established in 2021 and hosted by the UNCCD Global Mechanism, was created to strengthen the monitoring of the Initiative's funding and results. The Accelerator has played a pivotal role in enhancing governance, fundraising efforts, and stakeholder engagement across the Initiative. 

While ‘commendable progress’ has been made in land restoration and job creation, overcoming challenges in governance, finance and technical support remains critical. Stakeholders are calling for greater clarity and data on progress.  

The Great Green Wall Observatory, funded by the Government of Austria through the Austrian Development Agency, is a direct response to this need for the national agencies and the Pan African Agency. Through its creation, UNCCD has supported the development of a comprehensive map of available funds and projects to facilitate access to financial resources.  

"The Great Green Wall Observatory, which we have just launched, is a product that we appreciate very much because it has been produced in a very participatory way and it meets the existing needs by allowing us to assess the status of funding and progress in our respective countries.” said Pananditigri Nabasnogo Roch, National Coordinator of Burkina Faso's Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative.  

These data are, for the first time, available online – thus helping ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative. 

“The Great Green Wall remains the beacon of hope for Africa and the world, symbolizing humanity's ability to combat environmental degradation. We call on all stakeholders, partners, and communities to continue their commitment in support of this visionary initiative. Data remains a critical asset to the success of this initiative, and we call on all stakeholders to make use of the Great Green Wall Observatory to contribute relevant data to help accelerate progress,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.  

It is important to note that the UNCCD does not provide funding nor implement the Great Green Wall Initiative. Instead, the UNCCD provides critical technical support, encourages private sector participation, and promotes the involvement of civil society and research institutions through national Great Green Wall coalitions.  

“Through these actions, the UNCCD aims to support the Great Green Wall Initiative countries and partners in achieving its long-term goals and create a sustainable, resilient future for the people of the Sahel and beyond,” added Thiaw. 

About the Great Green Wall Initiative  

The Great Green Wall is an African-led movement launched in 2007 by leaders from the Sahelian countries, with an epic ambition to grow an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa. Countries of the initiative include Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad. 

The Initiative aims to regreen the Sahel, restoring degraded lands and providing decent livelihoods as well as jobs and opportunities for millions of people in Africa. It snakes all the way from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East. The Great Green Wall aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs by 2030. 

About the Great Green Wall Accelerator  

In 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator, hosted by the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was created to monitor funding and results of the GGW Initiative. 

The independent review of the Great Green Wall Accelerator is available here. 

About the Great Green Wall Observatory 

In 2023, Development Gateway, an IREX Venture (DG), was contracted by the UNCCD to develop and roll out the platform as a monitoring evaluation system to inform local, national, and regional programming.  

For more information - https://ggwobservatory.org/en