Nearly 29 million people across six Sahel countries will need urgent humanitarian assistance and protection in 2025, according to a new report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The affected nations—Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria—are grappling with a deadly combination of armed conflict, insecurity, mass displacement, and climate-related disasters. OCHA’s Regional Chief for West and Central Africa, Charles Bernimolin, stated that 18.4 million people are targeted for humanitarian support, but a staggering $4.3 billion is needed to meet their needs. Without adequate funding, he warned, “millions of vulnerable women, men, and children will remain in life-threatening conditions.”
The region has seen a sharp rise in violence, with over 16,800 people killed in 2024 alone. Displacement continues to worsen: 5.9 million people are internally displaced, and 2.1 million have fled their countries. The crisis has also spilled into neighboring states like Ghana, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Mauritania, which are now hosting over 328,000 refugees and asylum seekers.
Vital infrastructure is collapsing under the strain. OCHA reports that nearly 9,900 schools and 922 health facilities are non-operational. During the upcoming lean season (June–August), 12.8 million people are expected to face food insecurity, and 2.6 million children could suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
Despite the mounting needs, international funding remains critically low. As of late May, only 8% of the required humanitarian funding had been secured. The UN and humanitarian partners are urging the international community to scale up support to prevent a full-scale collapse of livelihoods and services across the region.
