The Club du Sahel was formed 1976. It is an active forum that brings together the Sahelian states belonging to the Permanent Inter-State Committee for the Prevention of Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) - Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal - non-government organisations representing the private sector, rural communities and women, municipal officials, and the main bilateral and multilateral donors. The Club is run by a secretariat based at OECD in Paris.

Its programmes are funded primarily by Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other participants include the World Bank, the European Commission, FAO and UNDP. The Club du Sahel works in association with the OECD?s Development Assistance Committee. Its members use the Club as a think-tank on the Sahel's future and a forum for sharing opinions, know-how and reaching agreement.

©OECD Observer No 219, December 1999