Humanitarian access critical if lives to be saved as conflict rages is central Sahel

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that unless humanitarian access is urgently granted to organizations like the WFP, catastrophic levels of hunger could hit hard in parts of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. 

Violence and insecurity have pushed 7.4 million people in the Central Sahel region of West Africa into acute hunger. The number of internally displaced people has risen from 70,000 two years ago to nearly 1.6 million today, including over 288,000 in Mali, more than 265,000 in Niger, and over one million in Burkina Faso, which is now home to the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis.

“When we can’t get to vulnerable communities, we’re seeing tragic spikes in food insecurity and thousands of people pushed into further destitution in the Sahel,” said Chris Nikoi, WFP Regional Director for West Africa. “There are over ten thousand people who are currently one step short of famine in parts of northern Burkina Faso made inaccessible by dreadful violence and conflict. The world cannot wait to take action until children, women and men have died.”

The ability of humanitarian organisations to deliver assistance to those most in need has been jeopardised by worsening conflict and insecurity. Meanwhile, aid workers are also increasingly targeted by non-state armed groups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. This means that needy communities are unable to access life-saving humanitarian assistance on which they so desperately depend in times of crisis.

WFP has continued to ramp up lifesaving assistance in response to the deepening crisis and growing needs – assisting over 3.4 million people in August alone.

WFP has scaled up to meet the growing needs in Burkina Faso, the financial outlook is worrying. WFP was already forced to reduce rations from July 2020 and risks a break for emergency assistance to displaced people – who have fled their homes farms and jobs and have no other options – by November. To maintain operations in the three Central Sahel countries, WFP needs US$ 135.7 million over the next six months.

At the same time, WFP is working to strengthen resilience-building support for at-risk communities. WFP interventions include the rehabilitation of community assets, improving degraded lands, school feeding, and community-based nutrition activities for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition. Since 2018, more than one million people have benefitted from WFP’s integrated resilience activities in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

Original source: WFP