Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel

The Comité Permanent Inter- Etats de lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel ( " Permanent Interstate Committee for Combating Drought in the Sahel " ), short CILSS, is an intergovernmental organization whose members include the countries of the Sahel. Member States are Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea- Bissau, Cape Verde, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad.

The CILSS was founded in 1973 in the face of drought and famine in the Sahel in order to mobilize the population of the Sahel countries such as the international community for action in the areas of agriculture, water management, environment, transport and communication. 1995 focused its activities mainly on the areas of food security and natural resource management.

Managing Director of the CILSS is since 2001 the former Gambian minister of agriculture Musa Mbenga, whose second three-year term expires in 2007.

The main office ( secrétariat exécutif ) is located in Ouagadougou, the agro- hydrometische center ( AGRHYMET ) in Niamey and the Sahel Institute in Bamako.