Rising Humanitarian Crisis in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger: The Impact of Climate Change and Jihadist Attacks

2023-06-06 21:31:39

Between them, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger represent less than 1% of the world’s population, but 5% of its humanitarian needs, according to the report by the American NGO International Rescue Committee published on Tuesday 6 June. More than five million people are in a situation of food insecurity in the three countries of the central Sahel and nearly three million people are displaced, a figure that has risen sharply since 2014.

The American NGO sees this as a consequence of the combined effect of the attacks by jihadist groups that these countries have been suffering for several years and of climate change. Temperatures are rising one and a half times faster than in the rest of the world, while 78% of the population depends on agriculture.

>> To read also: [2] Special program: Sahel, the consequences of global warming

Communities in parts of the central Sahel are therefore on the front line of both crises.

For the IRC, this is not a coincidence, but the result of a series of political decisions. The lack of investment in these regions makes people more exposed to the effects of climate change. And this fragility creates fertile ground for armed groups. A vicious circle that the NGO calls to break.

How ? Before answering it, the IRC’s regional vice-president for West Africa, Modou Diao looks back on the process that has led, over time, to the marginalization of the regions that are today the most affected.


The feeling of discrimination is felt in these regions and as many young people do not have jobs, they are perhaps more inclined to be mobilized in armed groups. We propose a response at three levels: meeting the humanitarian needs of the populations […]try to break the vicious circle by implementing structural projects by helping to improve access to resources […]to propose financing for projects to adapt to global warming and that the financing which is oriented for climate change is not limited only to the reduction of greenhouse gases because we know that these areas affected by countries conflicts have only a minimal contribution to climate change […]

Modou Diao: Rural areas have been marginalized since colonial times and have been less prepared for climate change


1686093059
#central #Sahel #millions #people #suffering #climate #change #armed #conflicts

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.