UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2020) The World Food Program (WFP) requires $170 million in funding to continue its emergency aid operations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger over the next six months, WFP Executive Director David Beasley said in a press briefing on Friday.
"For the [three] Sahel countries, about 170 million for the next six months [is needed], and that's for emergency operations, primarily," Beasley said.
According to the United Nations, Africa's Central Sahel region has experienced one of the fastest-growing humanitarian crises in the world caused by armed conflict, extreme poverty, food insecurity, climatic changes and the novel coronavirus pandemic.
More than 13 million people urgently require lifesaving assistance across the three countries that are at the epicenter of the crisis in the region.
WFP had asked for $86 million for Burkina Faso, $21 million for operations in Mali and $63 million for Niger.
On October 20, the United Nations, together with Denmark, Germany and the European Union, will co-host a virtual ministerial pledging event in response to the challenges in the Central Sahel.
