Burkina Faso, Mali & Western Niger - Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 15 November 2019)

Escalating violence and insecurity have sparked an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in parts of Burkina Faso, Mali and western Niger. Population displacement has sharply risen, as thousands of civilians flee to seek safety from the recurrent violent attacks. The number of internally displaced people has risen to more than 750,000, a ten-fold increase since 2018. The crisis is affecting extremely vulnerable families, compounding the impact of food insecurity, malnutrition and epidemics.
Around 1.8 million people are currently food insecure. Armed assailants are directly targeting schools and forcing health centres to close, jeopardising the future of thousands of children and depriving violence-affected communities of critical services. In 2019, 6.1 million people in the affected regions need urgent assistance, including 3.9 million in Mali, 1.5 million in Burkina Faso, and 700,000 people in western Niger. In support of national and local authorities, humanitarian partners are stepping up operations to save lives and alleviate human suffering. Some US$717 million are required to assist 4.7 million people in the three countries. As of October, only 47 per cent of the funds had been received. Beyond immediate humanitarian action, a coordinated approach integrating cross-border dynamics is required to reverse the spread of conflict and bring meaningful improvement in the lives of millions of affected people.