Around 46.7 million children will face humanitarian needs in West and Central Africa in 2024, mainly due to conflict and insecurity, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated this Friday.
In a statement released this Friday, the local Unicef launched an appeal to raise $1.89 billion (about €1.71 million) for Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) in 2024, which would increase aid for 24 .1 million children, just over half of those who will need support.
“West and Central Africa is home to a large number of severely underserved emergencies and some of the most neglected children’s humanitarian crises in the world,” UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Felicité Tchibindat, said in the statement.
“Children do not cause conflicts, but they are powerless to stop them,” highlighted the regional director.
More than a third of the funding needed in 2024 is earmarked to combat malnutrition in the region.
The Sahel countries are the most affected, with several areas in Burkina Faso, Mali and northwestern Nigeria showing emergency levels of extreme child wasting above 15%, according to the Unicef statement.
According to this UN body, as of October, 1.9 million children under five years of age were admitted for treatment for extreme wasting in nine Sahel countries, which represents an increase of 20% compared to the same period in 2022.
Lack of funding remains a major obstacle to humanitarian response in the region, UNICEF stressed.
According to the UN agency, this year’s appeal of around €206 million for humanitarian needs in Burkina Faso was only 11% funded, while the €781 million appeal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo) was only 13% financed.
Burkina Faso, whose humanitarian crisis has worsened since 2019, with two million internally displaced people, is one of the focuses of Unicef action in Africa, along with Cameroon, where 4.7 million people (including 2.5 million children) are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and the African Republic Center, where violence, population movements and natural disasters continue to seriously affect 1.3 million children.
Also Chad, which hosts about half of the flow of Sudanese refugees, where 7.6 million people will need humanitarian assistance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has the highest number of grave violations against children verified by the United Nations anywhere the world, Mali, where an estimated 8.8 million people will need humanitarian aid, Niger, which is facing armed conflict and climate catastrophes, and Nigeria, where armed conflict in the northeast affects 7.7 million people, of which 60% are children, are at the center of concerns.
In Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, the number of internally displaced persons, returnees and refugees is currently estimated at 123,000, including 36,000 children, but these numbers could increase due to conflicts in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. according to Unicef.
By 2024, the United Nations fund aims to vaccinate 6.1 million children against measles, treat 3.5 million children aged 6 to 59 months against extreme wasting, and provide 5.6 million people with canals. safe and accessible facilities to report sexual exploitation and abuse by staff assisting those affected. populations.
On the other hand, it wants to guarantee that 5.8 million people have access to water in sufficient quantity and quality for consumption and domestic needs and help 266,500 households with humanitarian monetary transfers financed by Unicef.
Source: TSF
