The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued an urgent appeal for robust international support to its operations in the Sahel region. Currently, nearly four million individuals are displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and neighboring nations. This alarming figure represents an increase of approximately two-thirds over the past five years, primarily driven by persistent insecurity, limited access to essential services, and the severe impacts of climate change.
“While the majority of displaced individuals in the region remain within their national borders, cross-border movements are becoming increasingly common, placing considerable strain on host communities and national infrastructure,” stated Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, Director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa, during a recent press briefing.
These ongoing population movements are occurring amidst severe challenges to both humanitarian access and funding. In the Sahel, humanitarian needs have surged dramatically, yet available resources have seen a significant decline since 2022.
Critical funding shortfalls
The UNHCR is advocating for a renewed and intensified international commitment to address the profound crisis gripping the central Sahel. The nations within the region are simply unable to manage these multifaceted challenges independently. For the current year, the agency has secured less than one-third of its required $409 million funding appeal.
Essential operations, including registration, documentation, education, healthcare, and shelter provisions, have been severely compromised. “Over 212,000 refugees and asylum seekers across Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger remain unregistered, which severely restricts their access to vital services and heightens their vulnerability to arbitrary detention and harassment,” Mr. Gnon-Konde further elaborated.
These significant budget cuts coincide with the relentless onslaught of violence perpetrated by jihadist groups. The pervasive insecurity throughout the region exposes communities to extreme violence, forced recruitment, restrictions on movement, and arbitrary detention.
Women and children constitute a staggering 80% of those forcibly displaced in the region, and gender-based violence remains a grave and widespread concern. “According to the inter-agency protection monitoring system in West and Central Africa, the number of individuals affected by such incidents has risen considerably this year.”
Widespread school closures impact millions
Amidst this climate of instability, more than 900 health facilities have also been forced to close their doors, denying millions access to critical medical care. Across the entire region, over 14,800 schools had ceased operations by mid-2025, effectively depriving three million children of education and safe learning environments. This dire situation further exposes “forcibly displaced youth to increased risks of forced recruitment and human trafficking.”
Furthermore, food insecurity has emerged as a growing catalyst for displacement; the proportion of displaced people and host community members citing it as a reason for their movement has doubled in recent years.
According to the UNHCR, climate-related shocks exacerbate these risks, intensifying competition for scarce natural resources such as land and water, and creating additional barriers to peaceful coexistence and social cohesion within host communities.