The head of the United Nations Agency for Refugees in West and Central Africa (UNHCR) office, Abdullah Ghenon-Kond, said at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that at present, in the Sahel region, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighboring countries, about 4 million people are displaced, about two-thirds more than five years ago.

Gennon-Kond said that women and children account for 80 percent of the region¡¯s forced displaced persons, and gender-based violence remains a serious and widespread problem. According to data from the Interinstitutional Protection Monitoring System in West Africa and Central Africa, the number of people affected by such events has increased significantly this year.

According to statistics from the United Nations Refugee Agency, as of mid-2025, more than 14800 schools in the region had closed, resulting in 3 million children losing learning opportunities or safe places. At the same time, more than 900 medical facilities have been forced to close, leaving millions of people without access to critical medical services.

UNHCR called on the international community to step up action to deal with the crisis in the region.