The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is warning of surging needs for more than 3.4 million displaced people and their hosts communities in the face of recent destructive flooding in Africa’s Sahel region and beyond. In Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon above-average rain falls and flooding have killed hundreds, displaced thousands and affected millions.
Nigeria is facing the worst floods in a decade. Hundreds of lives have been lost, over 1.3 million people have been displaced, and more than 2.8 million have been impacted, according to estimates, as farmlands and infrastructure have been submerged. Floodwaters in northeast Nigeria have swept through sites for internally displaced people and host community villages, forcing people to higher ground, UNHCR said in a media briefing today.
In Chad the government has declared a state of emergency after floods affected more than 1 million people. In Cameroon, more than 63,000 people were affected by the flooding from the two rivers. Some 379,500 internally displaced people (IDPs) live in Burkina Faso’s flood-affected areas. Over 32,000 people have been affected by flooding in the Diffa region of Niger, and more than 13,000 have been displaced. In 2022, at least 41,000 people have been affected by flooding throughout Mali.
“The climate crisis is happening now – destroying livelihoods, disrupting food security, aggravating conflicts over scarce resources and driving displacement. The link between climate shocks and displacement is clear and growing. Worsening climate shocks in the Sahel in particular have fueled drought and flooding, lowered crop yields and contributed to a general deterioration in public services for one of the world’s worst displacement crises, “ UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado said.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, countries and communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis need urgent support and financing to build defenses, to adapt, and to minimize the most harmful consequences. UNHCR is appealing to all donors for urgent support to its life-saving work in West and Central Africa.
Even before the recent floods, the Sahel was facing on of the fastest-growing humanitarian crises in the world - and at the same time, one of the most forgotten. This deteriorating humanitarian emergency caused by armed conflict, worsening security, political instability, and widespread poverty is further compounded by the impact of the climate crisis and global food insecurity. The Sahel faces severe humanitarian challenges with at least 33 million people in urgent need of life-saving assistance and protection support.
Meanwhile, humanitarian operations in the Sahel and adjacent countries are dangerously and chronically underfunded. In Chad, only 43 per cent of the funds UNHCR needs in 2022 have been received. Operations in Burkina Faso are just 42 per cent funded. With just two months left, UNHCR received 39 per cent of the funds needed in Nigeria and 53 percent in Niger.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency mandated to assist and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. The organization is known by its short name the UN Refugee Agency. UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly to provide assistance to refugees resulting from World War II. On January 1, 1951, UNHCR began its work. Each year, the UN Refugee Agency helps millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the UN agency maintains offices in 134 countries.
Further information
Full text: Millions face harm from flooding across West and Central Africa, UNHCR briefing notes, released October 28, 2002
https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2022/10/635b913a4/millions-face-harm-flooding-across-west-central-africa-unhcr-warns.html
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