Donor organisations, including the United Nations and the European Union, have pledged over US$1.7 billion to scale up life-saving aid to millions of people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.

The amount includes US$996.8 million for 2020 and $725.4 million for 2021 and beyond, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Development Diaries understands that, once released, the funds will help some ten million people for the remainder of 2020 and through 2021 with nutrition and food, health services, water and sanitation, shelter, and education.

Reports say gender-based violence has spiked, millions of children are out of school, and basic health and social services are lacking.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the Central Sahel region was at a breaking point as people living in the border region were at an epicentre of conflict, poverty, and climate change.

‘We need to reverse this downward spiral with a renewed push for peace and reconciliation’, Guterres said

‘We also need much more humanitarian aid. UN agencies and NGOs are on the ground to complement national humanitarian response efforts. With better funding, we can do much more’.

At the opening of the virtual conference, which was co-hosted by Denmark, Germany, UN and EU, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, said, ‘We are here to raise awareness, to raise funding, and to agree on concrete policy commitments to address the root causes of the Sahel crisis.

‘That is our only real option if we want to avoid far more human suffering’.

More than 13 million people in the region, according to UNOCHA, need humanitarian assistance as the number of people facing acute hunger has tripled over the past year to reach 7.4 million.

Source: UNOCHA

Photo source: IRIN Photos