By Abbas Nazil
Nearly four million people have been forced from their homes across Africa’s vast Sahel region as conflict, hunger, and climate change converge into a deepening humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations warned on Friday.
The UN said displacement in the semi-arid region has surged by two-thirds over the past five years, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger at the epicentre of overlapping crises.
Violence, insecurity, and climate shocks have combined to drive entire communities from their villages, creating a situation of repeated displacement and mounting protection risks.
Abdouraouf Gnon-Kondé, the UNHCR Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said women and children account for nearly 80 per cent of those uprooted, facing rising dangers such as gender-based violence, trafficking, and forced recruitment.
He described the unfolding situation as a “protection and survival crisis” requiring urgent global attention.
UN reports indicate that whole communities have been emptied in parts of Burkina Faso, northern Mali, and western Niger as clashes among armed groups, intercommunal conflicts, and military operations intensify.
Most displaced people remain within their national borders, but cross-border migration is increasing as insecurity spreads and livelihoods collapse.
Gnon-Kondé emphasized that the growing instability highlights the urgent need to provide assistance that allows people to stay close to their homes.
He warned that basic services are collapsing, pushing families into deeper hardship.
Over 14,800 schools have been forced to close due to insecurity, leaving about three million children without education or safe learning environments.
In addition, more than 900 health facilities have shut down, depriving millions of access to essential medical care.
Extreme weather conditions have also triggered widespread hunger, with farmers struggling to sustain food production.
Food insecurity has become one of the main reasons for displacement, with the number of people fleeing hunger doubling in recent years.
The UN describes the situation as a chronic hunger emergency, with more than 32 million people across the broader Sahel now in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, many requiring urgent food and nutrition aid.
Families depending on farming and livestock rearing are facing devastation as drought, desertification, and erratic rainfall worsen.
According to Gnon-Kondé, climate shocks are increasing competition for scarce natural resources such as land and water, further fueling displacement and straining social cohesion in already fragile communities.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response is being undermined by severe funding shortages.
UNHCR’s $409.7 million appeal for 2025 is only 32 per cent funded, forcing the agency to cut vital services including registration, shelter, education, and health programmes.
The wider $2.1 billion appeal covering Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger is even more underfunded, at just 19 per cent.
The UNHCR urged the international community to renew its commitment to the Sahel, warning that without sustained support, the crisis will worsen.
Gnon-Kondé called for unified global action, stating that protecting millions of displaced families “requires more than words – it demands true solidarity with the Sahel.”
