Ongoing conf lict, natural disasters and debt complicate the logistics of delivering aid to millions of people in the region. “West and Central Africa is the stage for some of the world’s most complex, tangled, and protracted humanitarian crises,” says Humanitarian Action.“The impacts of brutal violence, political instability, climate change, weak governance, chronic poverty, and fraying social fabric render daily survival extremely challenging for 63.5 million vulnerable women, children, and men.”It is estimated that one in five people in the Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) countries requires aid to survive.Humanitarian Action says $7.3 billion is needed to support 33 million displaced people in eight countries during 2024.“Every day, from northern Mali to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, across the Central Sahel region and the Lake Chad Basin, families are attacked by non-state armed groups or caught in the crossfire of warring parties and intercommunal violence. Fearing for their lives, they have no choice but to f lee their homes,” it states.Instability has increased since UN peacekeepers were made to withdraw from Mali and the French Foreign Legion from Niger by new military governments. Aid is coming from a number of western countries.The United States has established the West African Regional Development Cooperation Strategy to coordinate its efforts. Early in 2024, the European allocated a $281-million aid package for Sahel and Lake Chad countries.Of this, $3.4m is to establish an EU humanitarian air bridge operation.Refugees in Burkina Faso – the worst affected of the countries – are dependent on irregular resupply by commercial convoys moving under military escort, and more frequent helicopter drops which cost 12 to 50 times more than overland transport, according to Humanitarian Action.Many countries are also caught in a debt trap, with China having loaned $28bn to West African governments since 2000, primarily to fund logistics and power projects. The IMF has warned about rising debt to China in countries that are already heavily indebted.Added to these challenges is climate change.In April 2022, Ecowas adopted a regional climate strateg y.“According to the most alarming scenarios, West Africa will experience, by 2060, a temperature increase of +2.3 °C, or a warming of +0.6 °C per decade. “Precipitation will be more erratic and will lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of the extreme weather conditions already being experienced in our region,” it states.
