UNHCR and UNICEF warn of Sahel crisis becoming ‘problem for the world’

“If we don’t act now,” the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in the Sahel will “become a problem for the world,” a senior UNHCR official has warned, echoing a senior UNICEF official that has condemned a “distressing” 70% rise in grave violence against children in several strife-torn countries in the region plagued by jihadists and other armed groups.
“In the last three months of 2023, grave violations against children in the central Sahel increased by more than 70% compared with the previous three months,” Gilles Fagninou, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa warned on Tuesday (28 May). In an official statement, Fagninou called “on all involved in the ongoing crisis in central Sahel to put an end to all forms of violence, killing and abuse of children, in line with their obligations under international law.”
Echoing the warning of the senior UNICEF official, UNHCR’s director for west and central Africa, Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, on Wednesday (29 May) appealed to the international community to take action immediately to address the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel — referring specifically to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — or other countries will be drawn in and it will “become a problem for the world.” Speaking in Brussels where he participated in an EU-hosted donors’ conference for the Sahel, the senior UNHCR official also warned that the volatile situations in the three junta-ruled countries risk overflowing into neighboring countries. “The Gulf of Guinea, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire are already suffering because of the spiral of insecurity and the humanitarian situation — the same with Mauritania, the same with Algeria,” he added.