United Nations (UN) humanitarian agencies are alerting to the accumulation of crises with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, which risks devastating the Sahel region.
“United Nations humanitarian agencies (…) are alerting to the rapid deterioration of the Sahel crisis, driving humanitarian needs across the region to unprecedented levels, most of which are the result of escalating conflicts, Growing food insecurity, structural inequalities and direct and indirect consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic (…) ”, reports a press release received on Friday, 15 May 2020 by the African Press Agency (APA).
In 2020, UN humanitarian agencies recall, 24 million Sahelians, half of whom are children, are in need of vital assistance and protection, the highest number ever recorded.
Due to widespread violence and natural disasters, 6.9 million people face the dire consequences of forced displacement. More than 4.5 million people are internally displaced or refugees, a million more than in 2019, and 2.5 million returnees are struggling to rebuild their lives.
“Time is running out as we face an unprecedented displacement and protection crisis in the region. Hundreds of thousands of people have already been forced to flee and are now faced with the added uncertainty of the coronavirus, “said Millicent Mutuli, Director of the UNHCR Regional Office for West and Central Africa, cited in the press release.
In his opinion, “local communities across the region have shown remarkable generosity in welcoming them, but can no longer cope without urgent support because, national capacities are exceeded. The situation in the Sahel was already rapidly becoming untenable, with a humanitarian crisis on several levels. We must act quickly to avoid a humanitarian disaster. ”
“Conflict, displacement, violence and now the Covid-19 pandemic are having devastating effects on children, their health, nutritional status, education and rights to protection. Some 9.7 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition, including 3 million of severe acute malnutrition. It is crucial that measures are put in place to curb and stop the spread of the pandemic to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of children, “said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director.
For its part, FAO says it is concerned about the succession and overlapping of crises in the Sahel, from food insecurity, to the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential invasion of locusts that could devastate livelihoods, food production and weaken the resilience of the Sahel.
For Gouantoueu Robert Guei, FAO Sub-regional Coordinator, “pastoral communities, already hard hit by the effects of climate change and insecurity, are also affected by the closing of borders, which risks increasing conflicts between breeders and farmers.”
– APA
