The United Nations has warned that humanitarian needs are rising sharply across the Sahel, with around 24 million people requiring assistance amid worsening violence and climate shocks. The crisis is affecting multiple countries across West and Central Africa, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria…reports Asian Lite News
Around 24 million people across the Sahel region are in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations has said, warning that the crisis is deepening across several West and Central African countries due to rising violence and worsening climate conditions.
Speaking at a daily briefing on Wednesday local time, UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said this year’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Overview shows the crisis is escalating across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, northern Cameroon and northeast Nigeria.
He said armed groups are expanding their presence across the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, driving insecurity that has displaced communities and forced the closure of schools and health facilities across affected areas.
According to the UN, the worsening security situation is being compounded by climate-related shocks. Dujarric noted that the Sahel is warming faster than the global average, with floods affecting around 590,000 people in 2025 alone. He added that recurring droughts and advancing desertification have damaged farmland and threatened livelihoods across the region.
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are expanding cash assistance programmes, strengthening anticipatory action and increasing support for local organisations to help communities cope with rising needs.
The briefing also highlighted a parallel food security crisis in Yemen, where nearly five million people in government-controlled areas experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between March and May this year, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis.
Dujarric said UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and UNICEF, have called for urgent international funding to scale up humanitarian food assistance, nutrition services, health support, agriculture and resilience programmes.
He warned that between June and September, about 5.4 million people in Yemen’s government-controlled areas, including Aden, Hadramawt, Marib and Taiz, are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity.
The agencies cautioned that without immediate and sustained action, millions risk falling deeper into hunger, malnutrition and irreversible livelihood loss.
Dujarric added that the United Nations has already published the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, seeking 2.16 billion US dollars to provide life-saving assistance to around 12 million people across the country.
