West and Central Africa: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (07-13 June 2023)

Guinea-Bissau

Opposition wins absolute majority in parliament, creating a cohabitation regime

The opposition secured an absolute majority in the legislative elections, leading to a cohabitation regime for President Umaro Sissoco Embalo. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), won 54 seats, surpassing President Embalo's party, Madem G15, with 29 seats. President Embalo acknowledged his party's defeat and announced that he would appoint the PAIGC leader, Domingos Simões Pereira, as the Prime Minister. The President's handling of declining cashew nut prices, a vital source of income, contributed to his party's failure. This development is significant in a politically unstable country.

Côte d’Ivoire

Five dead after heavy rains in Abidjan

On 11 June, a landslide caused by heavy rains engulfed three shacks and claimed the lives of five members of a family in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. This tragedy follows a similar event last year, where six people lost their lives in a landslide during heavy rainfall. The downpour on Saturday night resulted in significant flooding, with 185 mm of rainfall in Yopougon and 133 mm in Treichville, prompting the highest flood alert level, "vigilance rouge" for Abidjan. June is the peak of the rainy season in this tropical city, with an average rainfall of around 300 mm, causing devastating floods due to torrential rains, and already 15 children have reportedly died this year due to severe weather conditions. The city's 5.6 million inhabitants face increased risks due to precarious housing in flood-prone areas. In the past two years alone, 37 deaths have occurred during the rainy season.

Mali

More than 82,000 people are expected to be food insecure in the Segou-San region

The latest Cadre Harmonisé reveals that 82,348 people were food insecure in the Ségou region from March to May 2023, and 135,196 others will face food insecurity during the projected lean season (JuneSeptember 2023). WFP, through its Ségou office, reached 6,000 households in the Tominian circle with food and nutritional assistance from March to May. The objective is to assist 43,540 people in Ségou, Niono, Macina (Ségou region),
Tominian (San region), and Yorosso (Koutiala region). The Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire commits to distribute food in all Ségou and San communes which entered in phases 3 and 4 of food insecurity.
Mali's humanitarian response plan 2023 remains underfunded, with over 80 per cent of the food security needs unmet at midyear in, against the continuing deterioration in the humanitarian situation.

DR Congo

At least 44 displaced people killed in the Lala site, Djugu territory

On 12 June, armed elements killed at least 44 displaced people in the Lala site, Bule area. The search for more bodies is ongoing. As a result, the displaced people from the Lala site have sought refuge in the nearby city of Bule. This incident occurred 11 days after the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement in Ituri. Attacks on IDP sites in the region have been frequent in the past year, with the deadliest attack claiming 62 lives in February 2022. Djugu territory currently shelters around 1 million IDPs, a consequence of escalating armed violence since 2017.