Attachments
Context
Since 2012, armed conflict has escalated in the central Sahel, leading to a continuous increase in forced displacement. Currently, 2.8 million people are internally displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, countries which also host 411,190 refugees including those originating from the central Sahel.
While these movements were initially limited to the sub-region, in recent years the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Burkina Faso has generated refugee movements towards Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. The number of asylum seekers arriving in the northern regions of these four countries, rose to 87,000 at the start of 2024, of which 89% were from Burkina Faso, the majority, women and children.
Despite this context, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo preserved access to territory and asylum for the forcibly displaced, confirming a long-standing tradition of hospitality as demonstrated by the existence of national asylum frameworks and institutions in the four countries.
From the onset, the forcibly displaced were received by local communities in the northern regions of these countries and integrated by local authorities into national systems. These communities face constraints marked by inadequate infrastructure, limited services, and few socio-economic opportunities. Food and nutrition security are worsening, with the number of food insecure people soaring from 480,000 in 2020 to over 3.9 million in November 2023. In the northern regions, particularly in municipalities hosting asylum seekers, over 20 per cent of the population face food insecurity. Essential public services and infrastructure are strained, leading to reduced functionality and heightened pressure on education and health systems. The closure of schools due to insecurity further jeopardizes children and adolescents.
The proximity to conflict, along with the additional responsibility of hosting refugees, asylum seekers, and supporting internally displaced persons, is intensifying pre-existing vulnerabilities and stretching the capacity of communities to cope. At the same time hosting refugees can yield benefits for these communities cultivating resilience and solidarity in the face of adversity.
The central Sahel crisis is a multi-dimensional regional crisis, and the role of the coastal countries is pivotal, not only in mitigating the current spillover effects, but extending to fostering peace and social cohesion. At this critical juncture, it is imperative to invest in strengthening these communities, to enhance their capacity to withstand shocks and foster resilience while protecting and assisting forcibly displaced populations and seeking solutions to their displacement.
The interconnected nature of the crisis calls for a comprehensive and cooperative approach among all actors. This requires coordinated intervention involving humanitarian and development actors to support and work with national authorities to find sustainable solutions.
The Gulf of Guinea Joint Response Plan led by WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR and IOM is a humanitarian response plan that interacts with existing development interventions in the northern regions of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. Its aim is to support national authorities to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development interventions by ensuring complementarity with development initiatives.
Partners will operate within the framework of national development and resilience plans, using and strengthening existing coordination mechanisms, to better support governments and authorities in their strategic efforts to protect and provide services to all people impacted, while consolidating localization efforts.UNHCR/2023