Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
- The severe humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso – protracted armed violence compounded by recurrent climate shocks – has heightened people's vulnerabilities and triggered widespread internal displacement, while also restricting humanitarian access. The deteriorating security situation has strained critical systems: it has weakened health infrastructure, disrupted education and limited people's access to essential water and sanitation services. The July–September lean season has aggravated food insecurity by reducing access to diverse and nutritious foods, intensifying needs for prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
- To reach 3.1 million people in 2025, including 2.8 million children, UNICEF will enhance its community-based approach to delivering life-saving assistance and essential services, including screening 2 million children for malnutrition and providing 800,000 people with access to safe water, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
- UNICEF is appealing for $255.1 million to provide life-saving assistance to children and families in Burkina Faso amid the country's complex humanitarian crisis.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS
The worsening security situation in Burkina Faso is marked by escalating armed conflicts and violence across the country, causing widespread displacement, civilian casualties, material losses and high levels of gender-based violence. There are increasing reports of exploitation and of grave violations against children including killing, maiming, abduction and recruitment. In addition, the use of improvised explosive devices frequently causes physical and psychological harm to civilians, including children. Increasing constraints on humanitarian access due to the widespread, protracted conflict are impeding responses in hard-to-reach areas, where access by air remains costly but is the only option to reach those in need.
Twenty per cent of educational facilities in Burkina Faso remain closed due to insecurity, and 2 million children require urgent educational support. For children who have missed or never attended school, alternative solutions are urgently needed, e.g., accelerated learning programmes, catch-up programmes, radio education and pre-professional training courses. While 1,304 schools have reopened through community efforts, significant support is still required to ensure educational continuity and to provide safe, adequate learning conditions for displaced and vulnerable children.
The humanitarian needs analysis for 2025 estimates that violence and insecurity have deprived 2.8 million people, including 1.7 million children, of their right to access water. Climate change-induced hazards, including flash flooding and other extreme weather events, have compounded people's challenges accessing safe water. The strain on water and sanitation infrastructure due to humanitarian crises has led to increased morbidity and mortality from waterborne diseases as as cholera and Hepatitis E. More than 17 per cent of the population in 10 affected regions is deprived of health care because health-care systems have been weakened by insecurity and violence. The dysfunction of the health-care system, combined with weak epidemiological surveillance at all levels, has led to the re-emergence of preventable diseases, including cholera and measles. The compounded effects of the security crisis, the weakened health system, lack of access to sanitation, low access to drinking water and the disruption of markets and livelihood activities have resulted in more than 1.3 million people requiring nutritional support, with an increase in global acute malnutrition across the country.