The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the government of Japan have partnered to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable populations in Burkina Faso.
Japan, it was gathered, has provided seven million dollars to support the effort of WFP in a country hard-hit by insecurity, climate shocks, rising food prices, and the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, worsening the plight of children, with the eastern and central-northern regions of the country among the worst affected.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) had raised concerns in January 2021 that acute food insecurity increased by 167 percent in Burkina Faso, compared with the five-year average.
UNICEF urged humanitarian actors on the ground and the international community to urgently provide support for children and families.
The humanitarian organisation said it had helped more than 170,000 children over the past year, including those living in displacement camps.
The funds from Japan, according to a statement from the UN agency, will allow WFP to provide lifesaving food and nutrition assistance to nearly 370,400 affected people, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), pregnant or breastfeeding women, children and rural households experiencing food insecurity.
‘WFP will aim to provide food and nutrition assistance on a monthly basis during the upcoming lean season, a critical period between planting and harvesting (June to August)’, the statement read.
Burkina Faso is facing one of the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis and increasing humanitarian needs as vulnerable families who represent ten percent of the population – over two million people – have a very limited capacity to cover their overall food and nutritional needs.
It is understood that the number of children suffering from malnutrition is likely to reach an alarming level during the lean season and health centres in certain areas are expected to close or provide minimal services due to rising insecurity.
‘Japan’s contribution is a way to strengthen its support to the vulnerable people of Burkina Faso who are facing many complex challenges’, Ambassador of Japan to Burkina Faso, Kato Masaaki, said.
‘With WFP on the ground, we will pursue the efforts required so that families become more resilient and self-reliant to live an eventual decent life’.
Japan has contributed a total of $17.7 million for WFP’s operations in Burkina Faso since 2018.
The government of Japan and WFP say they aim to tackle rising food insecurity through immediate humanitarian assistance and development initiatives to enable affected communities to cope with recurrent shocks.
‘The humanitarian crisis is intensifying in Burkina Faso where families are affected by the triple threat of conflict, climate change and Covid-19’, WFP Representative and Country Director in Burkina Faso, Antoine Renard, said.
‘We are grateful for Japan’s renewed support. It is crucial to save lives now as the “emergency within an emergency”, marked by the lean season is at the doorstep to strike people in need’.
According to WFP, long-term and systemic action is necessary as it plans to assist 2.5 million people in the country this year.
Source: WFP
Photo source: UNICEF Ethiopia