Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
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Armed conflict and inter-communal clashes escalated dramatically in the eastern DRC, especially in the Kivus and Ituri, displacing of more than 1.1 million people.
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Conflict in Sudan in April 2023 caused refugees to flee into neighboring Chad (5000,000) and the Central African Republic (20,000).
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New military operations and armed group activities in Mali following the departure of UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA displaced people internally and into neighbouring countries including Mauritania.
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Military coups in Niger (July) and Gabon (August), along with increased political instability across several countries disrupted children’s access to essential services.
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In addition to a Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea and polio in the Republic of Congo, further outbreaks of dengue fever (Cabo Verde), diphtheria (Nigeria, Niger and Guinea) and cholera (DRC) placed strains on health services.
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Guinea and the Gambia experienced severe flooding in early 2023, and the Republic of Congo saw floods in December, displacing 320,000 people1 .
SITUATION OVERVIEW AND HUMANITARIAN NEEDS
Children and their families in West and Central Africa faced humanitarian crises throughout 2023. From the recurring and expanding threat of climate-related disasters, toarmed conflict, political upheaval and public health emergencies, children continue to face hazards that place them in need of support beyond the capability of national response systems. The present report focuses on UNICEF’s Regional Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal in 2023, covering 11 countries (Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo). Nine countries in the region hosting large-scale humanitarian emergencies have published stand-alone reports Multi-country humanitarian crises were a critical challenge in 2023. In addition to the spillover from the Sahel Crisis that has been impacting Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the outbreak of conflict in Sudan led hundreds of thousands of refugees4 to flee into neighbouring Chad (496,834) and the Central African Republic (21,135), countries that are already responding to high levels of humanitarian needs.
UNICEF expanded operations in eastern Chad in response, activating an L2 scale-up and deploying resources to Farchana and Abeche to meet the needs of the arriving refugees. In addition to conflicts, the outbreak of Marburg Virus in Equatorial Guinea in early 2023 led to multicountry public health emergency coordination and preparedness measures in Gabon and Cameroon to prevent the spread of the disease.
Whilst West and Central Africa has witnessed numerous coup d’état in recent years, political instability was particularly high in 2023. The fallout from the July 2023 coup in Niger led to the imposition of sanctions, and obstacles to ways of working that impacted supply chains beyond Niger. This was followed by a coup in Gabon in August 2023 and political instability in several other countries including Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone later in the year. In Mali, the announcement in July 2023 of the expulsion of MINUSMA created a volatile operating environment and the subsequent military operations have seen displacements into Mauritania and other neighbouring countries. The UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Office has supported initiatives across the region to analyse and prepare for political risk and ensure operational continuity should obstacles materialize.
Country Offices in West and Central Africa continued to focus on strengthening risk analysis and preparedness capacity in 2023. Countries such as Cabo Verde issued alerts and preparedness measures as a result of seismic activity, and risk analysis in Guinea enabled UNICEF to prepare and response to a fuel explosion in Conakry late in the year. Following large political protests in Senegal in 2023 that saw the closure of some schools and protection risks for children, UNICEF focused on contingency planning and preparedness measures to ensure readiness ahead of presidential elections in 2024.