Elles du Sahel

Elles du Sahel is a cross-border network of twenty women leaders from the Sahel, Europe and the United States, developed with the institutional and strategic support of OASIS Sahel. Its members describe themselves as experts, activists, humanitarians and specialists in gender, climate, peace and security, feminist foreign policy, health and education. The network positions itself as a strategic bridge between authentic voices from the field and national and international decision-makers, opening horizontal dialogue spaces among actors where such dialogue had been interrupted. The network's stated priority is women and girls for a resilient and peaceful Sahel. Its approach rests on the argument that lasting stability in the Sahel will not be built by a security response alone, but through investment in human capital, beginning with women and girls. It works to transform the priorities of policy into responses anchored in the realities of women and girls, and to turn community experience into levers of influence. Since its creation, the network has grown with the support of OASIS Sahel, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California, formerly known as Venture Strategies for Health and Development (VSHD). In 2026, a new stage opens with its anchoring in Nouakchott, Mauritania, within STOP SIDA, strengthening its presence in the heart of the Sahel. Elles du Sahel operates as a network rather than a conventional commercial company, but it functions as a branded initiative with its own identity, website and communications under the OASIS Sahel umbrella. Its work spans advocacy, policy influence and cross-border convening on issues affecting women and girls in the Sahel.

Elles du Sahel is a cross-border network of twenty women leaders from the Sahel, Europe and the United States. According to its official page, the network has developed since its creation with the institutional and strategic support of OASIS Sahel. In 2026, a new stage opens with its anchoring in Nouakchott, Mauritania, within STOP SIDA, strengthening its presence in the heart of the Sahel. The network's parent organization, OASIS — Organizing to Advance Solutions in the Sahel — is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California. Formerly known as Venture Strategies for Health and Development (VSHD), OASIS and its founders and core staff have more than twenty years' experience in improving the lives of women and girls. In 2003, in response to a request from three leading African obstetrician-gynecologists to address the leading cause of maternal mortality, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), VSHD embarked on an initiative to overcome barriers to accessing misoprostol for PPH. By establishing a sister organization focused on this initiative, Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI), it spurred research, advocacy and action to improve availability and access to this life-saving maternal health medicine. In 2006, OASIS facilitated the first global registration of misoprostol for PPH in Nigeria. By 2014, misoprostol was approved in more than 20 countries, reclassified as a WHO essential medicine, and had protected the lives of countless women in pregnancy and childbirth. Having galvanized numerous donors, NGOs and country governments to integrate misoprostol into their maternal health programs, VSI was dissolved in 2014 and VSHD focused attention on its next challenge. In 2016, VSHD formalized its longstanding partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, and a team of dedicated experts from Niger. Together, they established l'Initiative OASIS Niger as a civil society organization. This milestone marked a crucial turning point, allowing for localized leadership and a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by communities in Niger. Today, l'Initiative OASIS Niger operates as GRADE, an independent organization. Elles du Sahel emerges from this broader OASIS Sahel ecosystem. Its mission is advancing education and choice for women and girls in the Sahel. The network describes itself as a unique cross-border network linking the field expertise of the Sahel to global decision-making spaces, in order to transform policy priorities into responses anchored in the realities of women and girls. Its members are experts, activists, humanitarians and specialists in gender, climate, peace and security, feminist foreign policy, health and education. The network acts as a strategic bridge, connecting authentic voices from the field to national and international decision-makers and opening horizontal dialogue spaces among multiple actors, especially where dialogue had been interrupted. Its core argument is that durable stability in the Sahel will not be built by a security response alone; it passes through investment in human capital, and that investment begins with women and girls.

• OASIS Sahel network develops with institutional and strategic support from OASIS Sahel.

• In 2026, a new stage opens with the network's anchoring in Nouakchott, Mauritania, within STOP SIDA.

A strategic bridge connecting authentic voices from the field to national and international decision-makers, prioritizing women and girls for a resilient and peaceful Sahel.

1. 1Elles du Sahel — OASISoasissahel.org
2. 2Sahel women's empowerment and girl's education — OASISoasissahel.org
3. 3Sahel women's empowerment and girls education — OASISoasissahel.org
4. 4Wikidatawikidata.org