UN appeals for $1.7bn in aid to Sahel Region

The United Nations said that the West African Sahel region is still in need of large-scale humanitarian assistance despite improving conditions since last year's drought. UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel Robert Piper appealed for $ 1.7 billion dollars to assist the region, which is still reeling from recent droughts and armed conflicts. The Sahel, which includes Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Gambia and Nigeria, has 11.6 million people with no food security, despite the improved agricultural outlook this year. Piper said it will take years for the population to recover from last year's drought, which is why the $ 1.7-billion-dollar appeal, with 36 per cent of the funding received to date, is the same size as last year's relief package. "One good agricultural season is not going to reverse the situation in a place like the Sahel," he noted. Piper said droughts, floods and other natural disasters are becoming increasingly frequent in the region, which makes it even harder for populations to recover. Piper warned that people in the Sahel might be forced to make short-term decisions, such as taking their daughters out of school, slaughtering livestock needed for breeding or using planting seeds for food, which might briefly alleviate hunger but has long-term negative effects. Another driver of the dire humanitarian situation is the security crisis in Mali, which suffered widespread violence early this year in the northern region of the country, causing 290,000 people to be internally displaced. Piper said the situation in Mali has spillover effects on surrounding countries like Chad that are struggling to keep up with the waves of refugees.