by David Shedrack
The Norwegian Refugee Council says 70% of the world’s overlooked crises are in Africa with global attention on Ukraine.Burkina Faso replaced DRC as the most overlooked crisis hotspot in the world.Total aid to Africa was around $34 billion (approximately R680 billion) in 2022, a decrease of 7.4% from 202
While the world is paying more attention to the war in Ukraine, the majority of neglected humanitarian crises for 2022/2023 were in Africa, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) report.
Seven-out-of-10 of the world’s most ignored crises were in Africa, while Colombia, Venezuela, and El Salvador are the three non-African states on the list.
The report assesses the state of funding in terms of media attention, international, political and diplomatic initiatives.
Jan Egeland, NRC’s secretary general, said: “Neglect is a choice; that millions of displaced people are cast aside year after year without the support and resources they so desperately need is not inevitable.”
Egeland noted how strong the support for Ukraine was following Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
He challenged world leaders to give the same attention to Africa.
“The powerful response to the suffering inflicted by the war in Ukraine demonstrated what the world can deliver for people in need. Political action for Ukrainians has been impactful and swift; borders have been kept open, funding plenty, and media coverage extensive. Those in power need to show the same humanity towards people affected by crises in places such as Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” he said.
The NRC said the media was more interested in the war in Ukraine and money raised for Ukraine was four times more than that for crisis hotspots in Africa.
More than five times more articles were written about the Ukrainian displacement crisis last year than about all the world’s 10 most neglected crises in total. For every dollar raised per person in need in Ukraine in 2022, just 25 cents were raised per person in need across the world’s 10 most neglected crises.
Total aid to Africa was around R680 billion ($34 billion) in 2022, a decrease of 7.4% from 2021.
For the first time, Burkina Faso was recognised as experiencing the most neglected crisis. It’s followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) known as the “basket case” of a neglected crisis.
The DRC topped the list in 2021, 2020, and 2017.
In the case of Burkina Faso, the country has seen a deterioration since 2017.
Nearly a quarter of the population now requires humanitarian aid after more than two million people were forced to evacuate their homes.
About 800 000 live in communities blocked off by armed groups and are without the most basic services.
As the situation worsens, some people are being forced to eat leaves in order to survive.
“We must do more to end the suffering in Burkina Faso before despair becomes entrenched and is added to the growing list of protracted crises.
“That this crisis is already so deeply neglected shows a failure of the international system to react to newly emerging crises, as it also fails those lost in the shadows for decades. Ultimately, greater investment in diplomatic solutions is needed if we hope to pull crises off this list,” said Egeland.
Other African countries on the list are Burundi, Ethiopia, Mali, Sudan, and Cameroon.
South Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, and Mali were in last year’s top 10 list of neglected crises.
