DAKAR, Senegal ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) today welcomed the recognition of the Sahel Integrated Resilience Initiative as a United Nations World Restoration Flagship, recognizing the large-scale efforts to restore degraded land and strengthen food security across Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
DAKAR, Senegal ¨C Amid a deepening hunger crisis across West and Central Africa, the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) has reached over 3.3 million of the most vulnerable people in West and Central Africa with emergency food and nutrition assistance between June and September 2025, thanks to critical funding from the European Union¡¯s (EU) Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
Conflict and violence are driving extreme hunger in six major crises
ROME ¨C A new joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) warns that acute food insecurity is deepening in 16 hunger hotspots, which threatens to drive millions more into famine or risk of famine.
Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali remain hotspots of highest concern, and Democratic Republic of the Congo has returned as a hunger hotspot to watch
ROME ¨C A new joint UN report warns that people in five hunger hotspots around the world face extreme hunger and risk of starvation and death in the coming months unless there is urgent humanitarian action and a coordinated international effort to de-escalate conflict, stem displacement, and mount an urgent full-scale aid response.
In 2024, over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute hunger¡ªan increase of almost 14 million people compared to 2023¡ª while the number of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger reached a record high
DAKAR, Senegal ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) warns that life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Central Sahel and Nigeria will halt in April 2025 without urgent funding. This warning comes as the lean season - the period between harvests when hunger peaks - is anticipated to arrive earlier than usual this year across the Sahel region. Millions, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), still rely on Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s food assistance for survival.
BAMAKO ¨C?The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is ramping up its lifesaving response to people affected by the devastating floods in Mali. Since the start of the rainy season in June, unusually heavy downpours?have caused flooding in many regions forcing the government to declare a state of national catastrophe in August, while appealing for immediate support to 350,000 people affected.
ROME ¨C As the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) responds to flood emergencies across the globe, the agency is calling for investment and concerted action to prepare vulnerable communities for more frequent extreme climate events that threaten to damage crops, displace communities and disrupt food systems.
DAKAR ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is ramping up its lifesaving food and nutrition assistance programme in West and Central Africa, targeting 7.3 million people during the ongoing June-August lean season ¨C when food stocks run out and hunger peaks. The programme ¨C which kicks off in June ¨C supports national governments¡¯ lean season response plans in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria.
Latest Hunger Hotspots report urges immediate action to prevent famine and warns of La Ni?a-linked climate extremes
ROME ¨C Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 18 hunger ¡°Hotspots¡±, a new United Nations early warning report has revealed today. The report spotlights the urgent need of assistance to prevent famine in Gaza and the Sudan, and further deterioration in the devastating hunger crises in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan. It also warns of the lingering impact of El Ni?o and the looming threat of La Ni?a that risks bringing further climate extremes that could upend lives and livelihoods.
YOKOHAMA ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) welcomes a grant of JPY 5 billion (about US$34 million) from the Government of Japan to support Â鶹ÊÓƵ¡¯s emergency assistance to improve food security in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
DAKAR ¨C With a Euro 48.5 million contribution from the European Union (EU) received through its Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), Â鶹ÊÓƵ was able to respond to the severe food crisis in eight countries of West and Central Africa during the 2023 hunger gap and beyond.
ROME ¨C To make more progress in the fight against hunger, the world needs to make at-risk communities less vulnerable to climate shocks and other emergencies, the UN Â鶹ÊÓƵ said today.
Ongoing conflict and lack of humanitarian access are weakening already vulnerable communities.
Bamako ¨C A combination of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement, and restricted humanitarian access risks pushing nearly one million children under the age of 5 in Mali into acute malnutrition by December 2023 ¨C with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them.
DAKAR ¨C The United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ)¡¯s efforts to build resilience to climate-related and human-made shocks and stressors have been shown to boost food security, while also strengthening social cohesion and improving the prospects for peace in Burkina Faso and Niger - a new study reveals.
Bamako ¨C With a US$ 3 million (XOF 1.7 billion) contribution received from the Government of Japan, the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) will provide emergency food assistance to 43,000 people affected by conflict in Mali between June and August 2023.
BAMAKO ¨C As violence, population displacements and climate shocks continue to exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition in Mali, the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) requires urgent funding to ramp up emergency food and nutritional assistance to 3.8 million women, men and children in conflict-affected regions in central, northern, and south-eastern Mali.
ROME ¨C The United Nation¡¯s Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) is preparing to support 490,000 people in Burkina Faso, The Gambia and Mali who were impacted by drought in 2022. Â鶹ÊÓƵ has received US$15.4 million worth of insurance payouts from African Risk Capacity (ARC) Limited that will provide a cash transfer to affected people from March to May 2023, enabling them to recover from the impacts of drought, for example by buying food or supplementing incomes to avoid having to sell productive assets.
BAMAKO ¨CThe United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) welcomes a EUR 62.5 million contribution from the European Union (EU) to strengthen food security, nutrition, and resilience of 971,000 people in nine conflict-affected regions of Mali.
Bamako - The Government of Japan has provided an additional US$2 million (nearly XOF 1.3 billion) contribution to the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) to help respond to the unprecedented food and nutrition needs in Mali.
DAKAR ¨CThe United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in partnership with the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), and the Senegalese Ministry of Economy, Plan and Cooperation, today launched the annual forum of intergovernmental organisations from West Africa, to examine and address the impact of emerging risks and challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.
ROME ¨C Further food ration cuts are imminent for refugees as humanitarian needs multiply around the world while funding struggles to keep pace, warns the United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) on World Refugee Day. The somber warning comes as Â鶹ÊÓƵ has already been forced to significantly reduce rations to refugees across its operations.
ROME/COTONOU ¨C The number of people on the brink of starvation across the Sahel has increased almost tenfold over the past three years and displacement by almost 400 percent as the region stares down a horrendous food crisis, the Executive Director of United Nations Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), David Beasley, warned today.
Abuja, Nigeria ¨C Extreme poverty in Western Africa increased by nearly 3 percent last year, according to a new report on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 published today by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
BAMAKO, December 3, 2021 - The Government of Sweden, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children¡¯s Fund (UNICEF), and the Â鶹ÊÓƵ (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) have signed a four-year programme to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities affected by food insecurity, malnutrition, and the effects of climate change in the Malian regions of Segou and Sikasso.
