The United Nations has warned of an ‘unprecedented’ humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, where about 70,000 people are reported to have fled their homes in the last two months.
According to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA), armed groups are thought to have burnt schools and killed innocent civilians in ongoing instances of insecurity, which has heightened an existing food crisis.
OCHA’s spokesperson Jens Laerke said on Tuesday that there had been a rise in intercommunal clashes since the second half of last year.
“[These are] clashes between communities and armed groups which are fighting each other, fighting Government forces and attacking civilians. That really took off at the beginning of this year, there were some very violent clashes in the beginning of January”, he said during a media briefing in Geneva.
According to the UN, around 1.2 million people are in need of assistance in Burkina Faso’s Sahel and Northern regions.
An appeal by humanitarian organisations for $100 million to assist about 900,000 of those hardest-hit by the crises is only 16 percent funded, a month after it was launched.
The UN’s Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Ursula Mueller, reiterated the importance of providing “shelter, water, food and healthcare” to thousands of families who continue to flee due to persistent insecurity.
She commended Burkina Faso authorities for providing quick assistance but said more needs to be done to meet the growing needs of those affected.
Mueller, who visited the West African country last week, held talks with President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and other top government officials to seek ways to ease the humanitarian crisis.
Metsi Makhetha, the UN Resident Coordinator for Burkina Faso said: “As we strive to alleviate suffering, we are also seeking ways to reduce and end recurrent humanitarian needs. Our efforts must look beyond the current humanitarian emergency and sustainably address the causes of the crisis.”
