(New York, 12 February 2015): The United Nations and humanitarian partners today launched the Sahel humanitarian appeal for 2015 which aims to help millions of people in nine countries in Africa's Sahel region. $1.96 billion is needed for vital humanitarian assistance.
Over twenty million people in the region are short of food: 2.6 million of them need life-saving food assistance now. Nearly six million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2015. Violent conflict and insecurity have worsened over the last 12 months in many of the countries. 2.8 million people have been uprooted from their homes, over one million more than this time last year.
“I am gravely concerned by the crisis in the Sahel. Families are extremely vulnerable to changes in the climate and many are affected by insecurity and the precarious economic situation in many countries,” said Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos. “We need the support of the international community and sustained Government leadership to ensure that we do not forget the people of the Sahel.”
The 2015 appeal forms part of a regional multi-year strategy to respond better to the chronic challenges in the Sahel by emphasizing early intervention and forging closer partnerships with Governments and development actors. It includes plans for Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad,
Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal, involving more than 100 UN and partner organizations which aim to save lives and protect the assets of the most vulnerable communities.
“Escalating violence is a deeply worrying pattern that threatens hard-won gains in curbing the trend of growing needs in the Sahel,” said Robert Piper, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel. “Violence in northeast Nigeria, the volatile situation in Mali, and the crisis in the Central African Republic are creating more suffering for communities that are already amongst the poorest in the world.”
“The Sahel region has been suffering from under-investment and now is on the front lines of our era's most pressing international challenges, from climate change to rising armed conflicts,” said Lindsay Coates, acting president and CEO for InterAction. “A regional plan and perspective is essential to move forward, identify and address these issues collectively. Partners in the public and NGO sectors now must work together to build on their respective experiences and strengths to support the exceptional resilience of the people of the Sahel region.”
To learn more about the humanitarian needs in the Sahel and how humanitarian teams plan to respond, visit: www.unocha.org/sahel2015.
For further information, please call:
Amanda Pitt, OCHA, pitta@un.org, +1 917 442 1810
Berenice Van Den Driessche, OCHA, vandendriessche@un.org, +1 917 208 82 41
Burt Edwards, InterAction, bedwards@interaction.org, +1 703 861 8237, +1 202, 552 6554
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int
