Urgent call to action: addressing the Sahel humanitarian crisis for millions displaced
Urgent call to action: addressing the Sahel humanitarian crisis for millions displaced
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued an urgent plea for heightened international support to address the escalating Sahel humanitarian crisis. Nearly four million individuals are currently displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and neighboring nations. This staggering figure represents an increase of approximately two-thirds over the past five years, driven by persistent insecurity, limited access to essential services, and the profound impacts of climate change.
“While most displaced individuals in the region remain within their own countries, cross-border movements are becoming increasingly frequent, placing immense pressure on both host communities and national systems,” stated Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, Director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa, during a recent press briefing.
These ongoing population movements coincide with severe strains on both humanitarian access and funding. The Sahel region has witnessed a dramatic surge in humanitarian needs, while available resources have significantly diminished since 2022.
Critical Funding Shortfalls Impacting Essential Services
The UNHCR is urgently appealing for a renewed and strengthened international commitment to tackle the profound crisis unfolding across the central Sahel. The nations within this region simply cannot address these multifaceted challenges in isolation. For the current year, the agency has secured less than one-third of its vital $409 million funding appeal.
This severe budgetary shortfall has gravely impacted crucial activities, including refugee registration, documentation, educational programs, healthcare provisions, and shelter initiatives. “More than 212,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger remain unregistered, which severely restricts their access to essential services and heightens their vulnerability to arbitrary detention and harassment,” Mr. Gnon-Konde emphasized.
These significant budget reductions are occurring amidst relentless violence perpetrated by jihadist groups. The pervasive insecurity throughout the region exposes communities to brutal violence, forced recruitment, severe restrictions on movement, and arbitrary detention.
Women and children bear a disproportionate burden, accounting for 80% of all forcibly displaced individuals in the region. Gender-based violence remains a grave and widespread concern. According to the inter-agency protection monitoring system for West and Central Africa, the number of individuals affected by such incidents has seen a considerable rise this year.
Healthcare and Education Systems Under Extreme Pressure
Compounding this climate of insecurity, over 900 health facilities have been forced to close their doors, effectively denying millions of people access to critical medical care. Across the entire region, more than 14,800 schools had ceased operations by mid-2025, leaving three million children without access to education and safe learning environments. This dire situation further exposes vulnerable, forcibly displaced youth to the heightened risks of forced recruitment and human trafficking.
Furthermore, food insecurity has emerged as an increasingly significant driver of displacement. The proportion of displaced individuals and members of host communities citing food scarcity as a primary cause for their relocation has doubled in recent years.
The UNHCR highlights that climate-related shocks further exacerbate these risks, intensifying competition for scarce natural resources such as land and water. This, in turn, creates additional formidable obstacles to fostering peaceful coexistence and social cohesion within and between host communities and displaced populations.