By Emegwoako C. Paschal
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) asked for help on Friday, October 28th for the 3.4 million people affected by flooding in West and Central African countries.
The request came in the midst of the worst floods in a decade, which have ravaged Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cameroon.
Ms Olga Sarrado, UNHCR spokesperson, said that hundreds of people had died in Nigeria after floodwaters in the northeast swept through internally displaced people and host communities in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States.
Sarrado went on to say that temperatures in the Sahel region were rising 1.5 times faster than the global average.
“The climate crisis is happening now,” she said at a news conference in Geneva, “destroying livelihoods, disrupting food security, exacerbating conflicts over scarce resources, and driving displacement.”
So far, 1.3 million people have been displaced in Nigeria, and 2.8 million have been affected by flooding, which has submerged farmlands and roads.
Above-average rains and flooding have killed hundreds, displaced thousands, and decimated over one million hectares of cropland in Central Sahel countries such as Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
“Countries and communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis require immediate assistance and funding to build defenses, adapt, and mitigate the most severe consequences.”
To assist those in need in West and Central Africa, UNHCR has issued an urgent appeal to all donors, stating that its humanitarian operations are “dangerously and chronically underfunded.”
“In Chad, only 43% of the funds needed by UNHCR in 2022 have been received.” Our operations in Burkina Faso in 2022 are only 42% funded.
“With less than two months to go, we have received 39% of the funds required in Nigeria and 53% in Niger,” Sarrado said.
Beyond the Sahel, she said, the Horn of Africa was experiencing the worst drought in 40 years, with the threat of famine, a devastating cyclone season in Mozambique, and historic floods for the fourth year in a row in South Sudan and Sudan.
“In 2022, extreme weather across the African continent has killed hundreds and forced millions to flee their homes,” she said.
