Media Advisory - Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ramesh Rajasingham to Visit Burkina Faso and Senegal

WHO: Ramesh Rajasingham, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator

WHAT: Mission to Burkina Faso and Senegal

WHEN: 8-12 February 2021

WHERE: Ouagadougou and field visits in Burkina Faso; Dakar in Senegal

A large-scale humanitarian emergency is unfolding in Burkina Faso where rising insecurity and conflict over the past two years have provoked the world's fastest-growing displacement crisis with more than a million people driven from their homes.

Humanitarian needs have increased sharply, and a record 3.5 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2021. The humanitarian problems in Burkina Faso have been further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ASG/DERC Rajasingham aims to draw international attention to the deteriorating situation in large parts of the country - caused mainly by non-state armed groups and inter-communal violence - and the need to sustain a robust humanitarian and development response.
During field visits, he will meet with internally displaced people, local authorities and national and international responders. He is also expected to meet national authorities and diplomatic representatives in Ouagadougou.

In Senegal, ASG/DERC Rajasingham is expected to meet key partners and regional donors based in Dakar.

Media opportunities will be organized during the mission. For more information, please contact Naomi Frerotte, Public Information Officer, OCHA Regional Office for West and Central Africa, +221 776392138, +33620818715, frerotte@un.org

For further information, please contact:
In Burkina Faso: Naomi Frerotte, +221 776392138, +33620818715, frerotte@un.org
In Geneva: Jens Laerke, +41 79 472 9750, laerke@un.org
In New York: Zoe Paxton, zoe.paxton@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int.