UN Says 29 Million In Sahel Need Humanitarian Assistance

The United Nations and NGOs say a record 29 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the Sahel, amidst unimaginable insecurity and hunger across six countries in the region.

According to a statement, in Burkina Faso, northern Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger and north-eastern Nigeria, five million more people than last year are in need of aid.

The UN said in a statement, which was also signed by NGOs Norwegian Refugee Council and Plan International that a record 29 million people across the region need humanitarian assistance.

Some 5.3 million people have been displaced by Sahel-wide insecurity, it added, noting that thousands of schools had closed and 1.6 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

The statement further said that without sufficient resources, the crisis will further escalate, eroding communities’ resilience and putting millions more children, women and men at risk.

Also, Regional director of UN’s World Food Programme, Chris Nikoi said hunger jump by almost a third in West Africa,  to highest levels in the best part of a decade.

Much of the semi-arid Sahel has been plagued by violence for years with Islamist militants launching a brutal insurgency in northern Mali in 2012, for example.