 says about four million people are currently displaced across Africa’s Sahel region){kind=link}
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says about four million people are currently displaced across Africa’s Sahel region due to rising insecurity, armed violence, and the impacts of climate change.
The UN Agency called on the international community to increase support, noting that affected countries cannot tackle the crisis alone.
According to UNHCR’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Mr. Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, “displacement figures across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries have risen by nearly two-thirds over the past five years.”
He said “although 75 percent of displaced persons remain within their own countries, cross-border movements are increasing, putting pressure on host communities with limited assistance available.”
Mr. Gnon-Konde explained that “women and children constitute about 80 percent of those displaced, with incidents of gender-based violence also on the rise.”
Insecurity
He warned that insecurity in the region continues to expose people to violence, forced recruitment, movement restrictions and arbitrary detention.
The UNHCR official said that “food shortages and climate shocks were forcing more people to flee, while competition for scarce resources such as water was triggering friction among communities.”
By mid-2025, nearly 15,000 schools and over 900 health facilities had been closed across the region.
Mr. Gnon-Konde said “the UNHCR requires 409.7 million dollars to meet humanitarian needs in the Sahel, but only 32 percent of the funds had been received.”
He stressed that the funding gap had adversely affected critical services, including refugee registration, education, health and shelter support, leaving over 212,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger unregistered.
The UNHCR reiterated its appeal for renewed international commitment to address the crisis, saying countries in the region cannot face the challenges alone
ALJAZEERA/ Oyenike Oyeniyi