HNRO 2025: Almost 29 million Sahelians need lifesaving assistance and protection services

Lives are at stake if humanitarians are not given the funds needed, warns UN

Dakar, 3 June 2025 – Across theSahel, 28.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection services – people who have been forced to flee their homes, who cannot provide their families with food or clean water, who have lost their loved ones and their livelihoods, and who lack access to the most basic protection and social services.[1]

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has today published the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Requirements Overview (HNRO) for the Sahel, and warns that lives will be put at risk if humanitarians are not given the resources needed to support those in need across the region.

The humanitarian needs caused by this complex web of interlinked crises, which is exacerbated by instability, increasing violence, conflict and insecurity, and the impact of climate change, are concentrated around the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. The HNRO provides an analysis of the crises faced, how this impacts people’s lives, and the nature of the humanitarian response. Humanitarians are appealing for US$4.3 billion to meet the urgent needs of 18.4 million people in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

Last year more than 16,800 people were killed in violent security incidents in the Sahel. This widespread violence has also led to the closure of more than 9,900 schools and 922 health centres, limiting people’s access to critical health and education services. Meanwhile between June and August this year, 12.8 million people in the region are projected to face food insecurity, and 2.6 million children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. These crises are driving increased displacement, with the Sahel home to 2.1 million refugees and asylum seekers and 5.9 million internally displaced persons – figures that have increased by 6 per cent and 20 per cent respectively since the beginning of 2024. Many have faced multiple displacements.

Moreover, the crisis in the Sahel is spilling beyond the region, with an estimated 159,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in the northern regions of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo and more than 169,000 refugees registered in south-east Mauritania. All too often, it is the most vulnerable – including women, children, the elderly, and those with specific needs – who bear the brunt of the suffering.

“Across the Sahel, millions of vulnerable women, children and men are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian workers are saving lives and reducing suffering day in, day out across the Sahel, often in complex and challenging circumstances, thanks to donors’ generous contributions. Yet without the funds needed to continue to support this work, those in need will pay a high price. Amidst a growing funding crisis, we must remember that we are talking not about balancing an accounting ledger, but about saving human lives,” warned Charles Bernimolin, the Regional Head of OCHA. “Our failure to act now will put lives at stake, exacerbate vulnerabilities, erode resilience, and risk the spread of the crises. The region needs a properly funded humanitarian response complemented by durable solutions for the long-term. I urge all donors to give generously.”

In 2024 humanitarian partners provided vital assistance and protection services to 12.4 million people. However, due to a funding shortfall, millions were left without assistance. As of 26 May 2025, 8 per cent of the humanitarian funding requirements of the 2025 country response plans have so far been met.

[1] The figures used in this press release exclude Niger, for which figures are not currently available.