Aid Agencies Seek a Billion Dollars for Sahel Relief

April 24, 2012

Image released by Oxfam shows a women pointing at the dry land in Oud Guedara. Early indicators point to a likely food crisis in 2012, with people at particularly high risk in Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad, December 11, 2011.

Humanitarian agencies say at least one billion dollars is needed to prevent many people from going hungry in Africa’s Sahel region. They say about 15 million people are affected by a deepening food crisis.

The Sahel stretches across nearly a dozen countries in the northern part of Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Warnings about a food crisis in some of the western and central Sahel countries have been ongoing. However, funding for aid efforts has fallen far short of appeals.

The United Nations has appealed for more than $700 million dollars, but so far has received less than half. Also a coalition of four NGOs is requesting $250 million for Sahel aid efforts. Only about $52 million has been raised.

World Vision, Action Against Hunger, Save the Children and Oxfam are making the joint funding request. Chris Webster is with World Vision’s Global Rapid Response Team and is based in Niger.

“You have a food crisis running across the whole of the Sahel region. It’s affecting a reported 15 million people. Around one million children are severely malnourished. The situation is serious,” he said.