24 million people need humanitarian aid across Sahel: UN
United Nations, June 4
Some 24 million people across the Sahel region need humanitarian assistance, a UN spokesperson has said.
Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing on Wednesday (local time), Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said this year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Overview warns that the crisis is deepening across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger, northern Cameroon and northeast Nigeria.
Violence continues to spread across the region, with armed groups expanding their presence across the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, he said. The insecurity has displaced communities and forced the closure of schools and health facilities, reports Xinhua news agency.
Climate shocks are further worsening the situation, Dujarric said, noting that the Sahel is warming faster than the global average. In 2025 alone, floods affected about 590,000 people, while recurring droughts and advancing desertification have damaged farmland and threatened the livelihoods of millions.
In response, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are expanding cash-assistance programs, strengthening anticipatory action and increasing support for local organisations to help communities better cope with growing needs, he said.
Additionally, UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday announced that nearly 5 million people, or one in two people across 12 government-controlled areas in Yemen, experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between March and May this year.
Citing the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis, Dujarric stated that to tackle the situation, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Children's Fund jointly called on the international community to urgently scale up funding for humanitarian food assistance, nutrition services, health, agriculture and resilience programming.
Between June and September this year, an estimated 5.4 million people living in the government-controlled areas, including Aden, Hadramawt, Marib and Taiz, are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, Dujarric said.
The agencies warned that without immediate, sustained and scaled-up action, millions of vulnerable people risk falling deeper into hunger, malnutrition and irreversible livelihood loss, the spokesperson noted.
Dujarric added that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners published the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan in March, seeking 2.16 billion US dollars to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to 12 million people across Yemen.
— IANS
Reader Comments
It's heartbreaking to see violence disrupting schools and hospitals across multiple countries. The situation in Burkina Faso and northeast Nigeria sounds particularly dire. I'm glad the UN is expanding cash-assistance and local support — that's more sustainable than just dropping supplies from the air. But the scale is massive. Let's hope global donors don't forget this crisis amidst other world events.
Climate shocks like floods and droughts hitting millions in Sahel, while Yemen also has 5.4 million facing acute hunger — the world is really struggling 😔 India faces similar climate issues with erratic monsoons and desertification in Rajasthan. We understand the pain. But I feel the UN's response is too slow. They've known about these trends for years but still struggle to scale up. Need more proactive measures!
"5 million people in Yemen experiencing acute food insecurity between March and May" — that's terrifying. And the UN plan for 2026 is asking $2.16 billion. It seems like a drop in the ocean when you consider the scale. I hope India's role in UN peacekeeping and humanitarian aid increases; we can share our experience with food security programs like the Public Distribution System (PDS).
The Sahel crisis is getting worse by the day — armed groups closing schools and hospitals is pure evil. But let's be honest, the international community has a short attention span. They'll focus on Ukraine or Gaza but forget about Africa's suffering. India must raise this at the G20 or UNSC. Also, climate adaptation funding needs to reach local communities faster, not just in government corridors.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.