Human capital ¡ª the knowledge, skills, and health of a population ¡ª is the foundation for job creation and economic growth and critical to achieving the World Bank¡¯s mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.
In 2021, SASPP launched this thematic area to inform the design and implementation of human capital interventions embedded in social protection programs in the Sahel. Its objective is to enhance human capital investments and protect households from divestments in the face of climate shocks.
The work is organized around three components:
(1) Linkages between climate shocks and human capital in the Sahel.
(2) Interventions to strengthen investments in human capital in shock-prone environments.
(3) Protecting existing investments in human capital in a shock-prone environments.
A few highlights of our work in the Sahel
Coping with adversity: Leveraging adaptive social protection to deliver a community-based mental health intervention to support the most vulnerable in Senegal.
Mental disorders, which significantly undermine productivity and human capital, cost low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) 2.1 trillion USD annually. This burden of disease limits the impact of social protection programs on building resilience, reducing inequality, and alleviating poverty among the most vulnerable populations. In LMICs, addressing mental disorders is particularly challenging due to limited funding, stigma, and limited mental healthcare human resources and infrastructure.
In 2025, the SASPP team piloted Self-Help Plus, a group-based mental health intervention developed by , in Senegal. Self-Help Plus is a five-session stress management program designed for delivery by non-specialists under the supervision of a mental health professional. The program was adapted to the Senegalese context and delivered to beneficiaries of the national social safety net program (PNBSF). Sessions were facilitated by community-level social protection workers (relais communautaires), who received Self-Help Plus training, and were supervised by a local psychiatrist. Preliminary findings from Senegal suggest improvements in the mean PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores, which assess depression and anxiety, among individuals who participated in Self-Help Plus.
By leveraging existing safety nets delivery systems, Self-Help Plus can provide essential stress management support directly to those who need it most, boosting their resilience and protecting their human capital.
Practical guidance on developing human capital accompanying measures in the West African context.
Human capital accompanying measures are communication activities included in social safety net programs that encourage household-level investments in human capital. This offers practical, step-by-step insights on developing human capital accompanying measures, specifically tailored to the West African context. It is informed by case studies of approaches used in West African countries, including in Mauritania, that have proven to be effective and impactful.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) in contexts affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV)
A review of the evidence on presents evidence from evaluations of safety nets programs, nutritional interventions and parenting interventions. It aims at identifying design features that make ECD interventions work in FCV contexts.
Behavioral change interventions in Niger are an effective tool to improve parenting practices and strengthen children¡¯s socio-emotional development in the Sahel
An impact evaluation provided evidence on the effectiveness of behavioral change interventions to improve parenting practices and strengthen children's socio-emotional development. Training parents to encourage health, nutrition, psycho-social stimulation, and childhood protection practices improved parenting practices and led to moderate gains in children¡¯s socio-emotional development | and
The importance of cross-sectoral cleaner cooking solutions in protecting human capital and reducing environmental damage in the Sahel.
Analysis of demographic and health survey data from five Sahel countries provided evidence that, in early childhood, exposure to household air pollution from solid cooking fuels is associated with an increased likelihood of growth faltering and undernutrition. This informed an upcoming pilot in Chad, financed by the Japan Social Development Fund, which harmonizes two World Bank social protection and energy projects to strengthen their impact on both human capital and climate change mitigation. | and
Last Updated: Sep 09, 2025