The lives of 32.8 million people across the Sahel are affected by a complex and interlinked web of crises, which are exacerbated by instability, a deteriorating security situation, and the effects of climate change, leaving them in need of humanitarian assistance and protection services. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that lives are at risk unless humanitarians are given the resources needed to respond to these crises and support the region's most vulnerable people.
OCHA has today published the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Requirements Overview for the Sahel, highlighting the nature of the humanitarian crises faced, what this means for those living in the region, and how humanitarians are responding to these crises. Humanitarian partners require US$ 4.7 billion in 2024 to meet the urgent needs of 20.9 million people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon's Far North Region, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria's Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Across the Sahel, growing violence and conflict threaten lives and livelihoods, forcing families to flee their homes and preventing access to basic social services - 2.2 million children are deprived of their right to education due to school closures, and 1,263 health centres are closed. The region hosts two million refugees and asylum seekers and 5.6 million internally displaced persons, many of whom have faced multiple displacements. The increasing effects of climate change are multipliers of vulnerability. Protection of human life and people's fundamental rights and dignity remains the most urgent humanitarian need. Women and girls, children, and those with specific needs are particularly vulnerable. In the upcoming June-August lean season, 16.7 million people will struggle to feed themselves.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The crisis in the Sahel is increasingly having a spillover effect beyond the region - the coastal countries of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo host 123,116 refugees and asylum seekers, while Mauritania hosts 128,100 refugees and asylum seekers.
"Humanitarians across the Sahel are doing extraordinary work, often in the most challenging of circumstances. But the tangled web of crises that are faced is more complex than ever. Almost 33 million people across the region are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Yet without the resources needed to respond to their needs, these crises will continue to escalate and spread, eroding resilience and putting the lives of vulnerable children, women and men at risk," warned Charles Bernimolin, the Regional Head of OCHA. "Thanks to donors' generous contributions, humanitarians are making a real difference in the Sahel. I urge the international community to give generously to ensure the region's humanitarian response plans can be implemented fully. Moreover, given that humanitarian action alone is not a long-term solution, I would also urge international partners to continue to engage with the region, to create durable solutions that will reduce humanitarian needs in the future."
Humanitarian partners provided lifesaving assistance and protection services to more than 15.6 million people across the Sahel in 2023. However, with the humanitarian response plans for the six countries in the Sahel receiving just 41 per cent of the funding needed, millions were left without vital aid. As of 3 June 2024, 16 per cent of the humanitarian funding requirements of the six 2024 country response plans were met. If aid operations collapse, it will threaten millions of lives across the Sahel.
