The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns:OCHA).
“The entire family in the Sahel is on the verge of starvation,” said Martin Griffiths, UN Director of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Coordinator. “If we don’t act now, people will perish.”
Serious number
In the Sahel, 7.7 million children under the age of 5 are malnourished, of which 1.8 million are severely malnourished.
And if aid activities are not expanded, this number could reach 2.4 million people by the end of this year.
The combination of violence, insecurity, poverty and record-high food prices is exacerbating malnutrition and pushing millions to the brink of extinction, said the humanitarian director. Survival.
Incredible hunger
The situation has reached an alarming level in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Nigerwhere nearly 1.7 million people will experience acute food insecurity during the lean season from June to August.
At the emergency level – technically known as IPC phase 4 – households experience a “big gap” in food consumption; high levels of acute malnutrition and related mortality; and families sell off items necessary for their lives and livelihoods, such as farming tools.
“The recent spike in food prices due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is threatening to turn the food security crisis into a humanitarian disaster.‘ said the Emergency Relief Coordinator.
‘No time to wander’
OCHA has released $30 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help meet most pressing food security and nutrition needs in four States: $6 million for Burkina Faso and $8 million each for Chad, Mali and Niger.
CERF is a mechanism through which donors pool their contributions in advance, allowing humanitarian agencies to provide initial assistance, saving lives in a crisis while waiting for additional funding. .
“There is no time to lose,” Mr. Griffiths said. “Life is at stake. This cash injection will help local agencies expand the scale of emergency response to avoid disaster.”
Cash infusion
This latest donation brings almost $95 million in funding through CERF to Sahel since the start of the year.
Other recent allocations made to Mauritania, $4 million; and Nigeria, $15 million.
The humanitarian director reminded that CERF is no substitute for “the more substantial contributions from donors that we need to sustain our response and help build resilient communities.”
Earlier this year, the humanitarian community launched six humanitarian appeals in the Sahel totaling $3.8 billion to deliver aid to the entire region for 2022.
However, for half a year, less than 12% of the appeals were funded.
© UNOCHA / Michele Cattani
Refugee women prepare food at a displacement site in Ouallam, Tillaberi region of Niger.
