Transforming the desert through collective resilience work
Miho Mitobe is an international UN Volunteer fully funded by the Government of Japan under the Global Human Resource Development Programme for Peacebuilding and Development (HRD Programme). Serving as an External Relations Officer with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Mauritania, she manages the collaboration with external partners to meet WFP's strategic objectives. In this article, Miho shares her journey in Bassikounou, working with WFP in its humanitarian support to communities affected by climate change.
A UN Volunteer's journey in south-eastern Mauritania
Sitting by the window on my first flight with the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) en route to Bassikounou, in the south-eastern part of the country, all I could see was the vast Sahara Desert. As I got off the airplane during a stop-over in Kiffa, heat blew into my face. The sand was playing with the wind. There was no shade. And it was about 45 degrees Celsius. The question on my mind was: how can people survive — and thrive — in a desert?