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Sahel Humanitarian Crisis Reaches Breaking Point as Funding Dries Up

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - U.N. agencies are operating on a shoestring budget in the
   Sahel region. The United Nations reports they will need $2.4 billion
   through the coming year to provide life-saving assistance to more than
   13 million people, over half of them children, in Mali, Burkina Faso
   and Niger.

   The U.N. children's fund reports multiple crises in the Central Sahel,
   including a surge in armed violence. The economic fallout from COVID-19
   is worsening conditions for children.

   UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said more than a million children
   have been forcibly displaced from their homes. In addition, the number
   of children suffering life-threatening malnutrition is increasing, as
   are mortality rates in some regions of Burkina Faso, she said.

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