Today's top news: Burkina Faso

Dahani Adama with his children in a house where they found a shelter in Fada, Burkina Faso after his village, Tambarga was attacked by armed groups. August 2022. OCHA/Michele Cattani

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso continues to confront a multi-dimensional crisis. Insecurity is growing and nearly one fifth of the population needs urgent humanitarian aid.

The number of security incidents increased by 220 per cent in 2022 over the previous year. Conflict intensity remains higher than any other Sahelian country. As of end of December last year, 1.3 million people are in hard-to-reach areas.

At least 1.7 million people are displaced, or one in 12 Burkinabe. The country was one of the fastest growing displacement crises in the world in 2022.

The conflict and chronic vulnerability to droughts and floods have left 2.6 million people severely food insecure (in Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's Phase 3), a figure that is expected to increase to 3.5 million during the 2023 lean season.

Between April and June 2022, at least 400 incidents involving violations of human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law have been reported. At least 649 people have been killed (39 per cent were children).

Burkina Faso’s 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan was only funded at 38 per cent ($309M funded out of $805M needed). The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plans requires $866M to respond to the needs of 3 million people in need.