Attachments
Highlights
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The spillover effects of insecurity and fragility in the Sahel continue to affect Côte d'Ivoire. From January to March 2024, 9,636 new people crossed the border from Burkina to Côte d’Ivoire seeking asylum. By 17 March 2024, UNHCR reported that 54,215 people—57 per cent are children, the majority under 12 years of age—had fled from Burkina Faso into northern areas of Côte d’Ivoire.
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During the reporting period, UNICEF ensured the continuity of education services for 2,341 children (including more than 1,409 asylum seekers) in Tchologo and Bounkani regions through 48 temporary learning spaces; treated 878 children under five for severe acute malnutrition (SAM); provided access to safe drinking water for 2,000 people; and provided psychosocial support to 493 children.
294,930 Children in need of humanitarian assistance
600,000 People in need of humanitarian assistance
54,215 asylum seekers
Funding overview and partnerships
In line with the 2024 UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal, the total amount of funding received by the end of March 2024 was US$ 0.53 million (3 per cent of the US$ 16.95 million required). Funds used to respond to the Sahel crisis included: USAID, US National Committee (NatCom) and UNICEF regular resources.
Additional funding for this crisis will enable UNICEF to provide safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, conduct social and behavioural change (SBC) activities, reunify children with their families, prevent malnutrition and cure children suffering from SAM, procure and distribute NFI kits, and ensure access to healthcare, including for prevention of mother-tochild transmission of HIV, as well as to education services for refugees/asylum seekers and host populations.
UNICEF is grateful to all partners for their continued support and collaboration and appeals for further assistance for the refugees/asylum seekers and vulnerable children in host populations in the northern regions of Côte d’Ivoire.
Situation overview and humanitarian needs
Cote d'Ivoire continues to be impacted by the ongoing conflicts in the Sahel. The deterioration of the security situation in Burkina Faso led to an increase in the number of asylum seekers in 2023. This increase has continued since the beginning of 2024. From January to March 2024, 9,636 new people crossed the border from Burkina to Côte d’Ivoire, seeking asylum. As of March 2024, Côte d’Ivoire hosted an estimated 54,215 asylum-seekers from Burkina Faso, 45,900 of whom were registered. The majority of forcibly displaced persons in northern Côte d’Ivoire are women and girls (55%), while 31% (around 17,000) are school-age children, and more than 20% are under the age of five.
In these human mobility contexts, children are particularly vulnerable and exposed to risks that require professional case management support (e.g. unaccompanied and separated children, child exposed to forced marriage, unregistered children/ without birth certificate) and any form of violence and abuse and exploitation. Multi-sectoral assessments also revealed urgent needs in nutrition and water, hygiene and sanitation, as well as education.
Communities in the Bounkani (north-east) and Tchologo (north) regions of Côte d’Ivoire face challenges in terms of access to basic social services and have significantly lower economic development than the rest of the country. In these regions where the basic social services are scarce, further reductions in access would only exacerbate structural inequalities and community tensions.