The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The UN humanitarian agencies are warning that 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region face severe hunger in the next three months due to a combination of insecurity, the coronavirus pandemic, climate induced shocks and record-high food prices in the region. The situation has reached alarming levels in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, where people are predicted to experience emergency levels of food insecurity during the lean season between June and August.
Speaking today at a regular briefing at the United Nations in Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that “up to 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region will face severe food insecurity over the next three months, the highest number since 2014, according to our projections”.
OCHA’s Jens Laerke also announced today that “to help people and meet their urgent food security and nutrition needs, we are releasing US$30 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for those four countries. That includes $6 million for Burkina Faso and $8 million each for Chad, Mali and Niger.”
This injection of cash will help aid agencies on the ground to scale up the emergency response right away.
“In the Sahel, 7.7 million children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from malnutrition”, said OCHA’s spokesperson. He added that “1.8 million are severely malnourished and if aid operations are not scaled up, this number could reach 2.4 million by the end of this year.”
For the World Food Programme (WFP) the immediate release of $30 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and Niger is crucial for their operations in the Sahel region. Tomson Phiri, WFP’s spokesperson said that “needs are sky high, and resourcing was at rock bottom. This timely injection of funding from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund is a welcome relief that will help us to step up. But, of course, additional resources will be required.”
Severe funding shortfalls has been causing cuts for food rations for refugees and displaced people of up to half in parts of the Sahel.
According to WFP’s spokesperson, “In Burkina Faso, we have had to cut rations and we are providing assistance at 75% in hard-to-reach and most food insecure areas”.
Rations have already been cut by half for displaced people and refugees in Chad, said WFP.
“If additional contributions are not received as indicated, we will have no choice but to reduce rations even further from July 2022, and mind you, these are people that have been displaced. These are displaced people and some of them are refugees”, said WFP’s Tomson Phiri.
The recent spike in food prices driven by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is threatening to turn a food security crisis into a humanitarian disaster with those two countries being the key producers of wheat, barley and other agricultural products.
“Why is this situation as bad now? You will realize that we have conflict in the West African regions, you have COVID - it's still raging out there. You have climate induced shocks, and you have rising costs, which are all colliding to put basic meals out of reach for millions of people. The situation is definitely going to worsen before it gets better, particularly as we head towards the annual lean season, which sets in from June to September.”
Earlier this year, OCHA has launched a total of $3.8 billion appeal to provide aid in 2022 for the Sahel region which is currently less than 12 % funded.
-ends-
- Exterior wide shot, flag alley, UN Geneva.
- Medium-wide shot, UN Geneva Press room, cameraman in foreground, podium speaker and large-screen TV showing speakers in room and remotely.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “Up to 18 million people in Africa’s Sahel region will face severe food insecurity over the next three months, and that's the highest number since 2014, according to our projections.”
- Medium-wide shot, podium speakers to the left and TV screen to the right from ground view.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “To help people and meet their urgent food security and nutrition needs, we are releasing $30 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for those four countries. That includes $6 million for Burkina Faso and $8 million each for Chad, Mali and Niger.”
- Close-up, side shot of the participants, following the press conference.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “In the Sahel, 7.7 million children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from malnutrition. 1.8 million are severely malnourished and if aid operations are not scaled up, this number could reach 2.4 million by the end of this year.”
- Close-up, frame of cable in foreground, blurry; a participant following the press conference to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP: “Needs are sky high, and resourcing was at rock bottom. This timely injection of funding from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund is a welcome relief that will help us to step up. But, of course, additional resources will be required.”
- Close-up, hand holding a pen and writing the notes on the notebook.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP: “In Burkina Faso, we have had to cut rations and we are providing assistance at 75% in hard-to-reach and most food insecure areas.”
- Medium shot, side shot of participants, listening or taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP: “If additional contributions are not received as indicated, we will have no choice but to reduce rations even further from July 2022, and mind you, these are people that have been displaced. These are displaced people and some of them are refugees.”
- Close-up, display of camera showing podium speaker in foreground, podium speaker remotely in the background, blurry.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Tomson Phiri, spokesperson, WFP: “Why is this situation as bad now? You will realize that we have conflict in the West African regions, you have COVID - it's still raging out there. You have climate induced shocks, and you have rising costs, which are all colliding to put basic meals out of reach for millions of people. The situation is definitely going to worsen before it gets better, particularly as we head towards the annual lean season, which sets in from June to September.”
- Medium shot, seated participants following the press conference.
- Medium-wide shot, podium speakers to the left with TV screen to the right from ground view.
- Close-up, fingers tapping on laptop.
- Close-up, a participant looking at and listening to the speaker carefully.
- Medium shot, a masked participant sitting and staring at the laptop screen.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.