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Crisis Severity0 Very lowVery high 5
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Impact0 Very lowVery high 5
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Humanitarian Conditions0 Very lowVery high 5
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Complexity0 Very lowVery high 5
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Access ConstraintsNo constraintsExtreme constraints
Key figures
Special Reports
06/04/2023
Special Reports
19/10/2022
Special Reports
07/12/2021
Special Reports
15/10/2020
Special Reports
29/04/2020
Overview
03/03/2023
The presence and activities of Islamist armed groups are increasingly affecting Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel regions of Burkina Faso, although the influence of such groups can also be seen in the regions bordering Mali and Niger. Burkina Faso has become the epicentre of armed group violence in the Central Sahel region since 2019. Several non-state armed groups are active in the country, including Ansarul Islam, the Group to Support Islam and Muslims, and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. As at December 2022, rising violence since 2019 had displaced more than 1.8 million people. The country also hosts more than 34,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Mali. ?
Several health facilities are non-functional as a result of attacks and intimidation by armed groups against health personnel, especially in the northern regions. ? Access to water is a major issue, particularly in Sahel and Est regions, where armed groups have carried out several attacks on water points.? ) As at December 2022, insecurity had caused the closure of more than 6,200 schools, affecting more than one million students across the country. ? In 2022, armed groups surrounded certain towns in the northern regions of the country, such as Djibo, Sebba, and Titao, limiting humanitarian access and people’s access to services and livelihoods. ?
Food insecurity continues to rise because of several factors, including insecurity, declines in agricultural production in some provinces, inflation, and rising food prices. From October–December 2022, more than 2.6 million people experienced severe acute food insecurity (CH Phase 3 or above) – a figure expected to rise to more than 3.5 million in the June–August 2023 period. Populations facing Catastrophe (CH Phase 5) food insecurity levels were first identified in the country in 2022. ?
Burkina Faso is also currently experiencing a political crisis. Two military coups occurred in 2022 alone. In September 2022, the military leader Ibrahim Traore deposed military leader Paul-Henri Damiba.? In January 2023, the authorities decided the departure of the around 400 French troops based in Ouagadougou as part of the Sabre Operation.?
INFORM measures Burkina Faso’s risk of humanitarian crisis and disaster to be very high, at 7/10. Vulnerability and coping capacity are at concerning levels: 7.7 and 6.4 respectively.?
Latest Developments
02/05/2023
No significant recent humanitarian developments. This crisis is being monitored by our analysis team.
Humanitarian Access
16/12/2022
VERY High constraints
Humanitarian access in the country has deteriorated in the past six months as armed groups expanded their area of influence across the country. An estimated 40% of the territory was not under state control in September. The multiplication of areas besieged by armed groups in Est, Nord, and Sahel regions has significantly increased movement restrictions for civilians and humanitarians. Aid delivery convoys in areas surrounded by armed groups are often attacked, and the resulting insecurity has led to fewer convoys travelling to deliver food and aid. During these attacks, armed groups would burn trucks carrying humanitarian aid and steal supplies. In areas besieged by armed groups, thousands of people who could only leave their area under military escort no longer have access to healthcare and schooling since many public services are non-functional. Access to water has also become particularly limited after armed groups destroyed dozens of water points.
Since June, at least four aid workers have been kidnapped, one injured, and one killed. Attacks on health structures and threats and intimidation against health personnel, particularly in Sahel region, have prompted many health workers to flee making access to health services even more limited. Humanitarian flights, in some cases the safest means of aid delivery in certain areas under the control of non-state armed groups, remain irregular because of limited capacity and are often suspended by insecurity. Non-state armed groups’ destruction of roads, bridges, and telecommunication infrastructure, as well as the presence of IEDs, aim at isolating certain areas from the rest of the country, further limiting humanitarian access in Est, Centre-Nord, Nord, and Sahel regions. Poor road conditions deteriorated further during the rainy season (mid-May to mid-October), hampering humanitarian movement.
For more information you can consult our latest Global Humanitarian Access Overview – December 2022.
Internal Displacement
Source : UNHCR - https://data2.unhcr.org/en/country/bfa
Key Priorities
16/03/2021
Food security is a particular concern in Nord, Centre-Nord, Est and Sahel regions as insecurity hampers the population's access to agricultural fields?
Protection is a priority for populations affected by insecurity, particularly in the Sahel and Centre-Nord regions, where attacks against civilians have been increasing and where most of the displaced people live?. Some 21,000 refugees from Mali are also concentrated in those areas?.
Health services remain severely restricted. 82 health facilities have been closed because of violence and 243 are partially functional – these developments leave at least 846,000 people without access to healthcare in the conflict-affected regions. ?
