Aid Cuts Put Vulnerable Children at Further Risk in Burkina Faso
Forced out of their homes by armed groups, displaced families in Burkina Faso rely on humanitarian aid to meet their children's basic needs. Now global budget cuts threaten to undo their fragile safety net. Here's how to help.
Fadima Bandé didn't want to leave her farmland or the animals she raised to support her family in northeastern Burkina Faso. But when armed groups descended on her home village of Sohlan, seizing everything, she had no choice. Bandé took her twin girls and fled in search of safety.
Watch the video: A flight from violence and a tragedy en route
Displacement was particularly hard on her young children. "As we fled, one of my daughters fell ill after being soaked by the rain," Bandé said. "The child had caught a cold and was already suffering from malnutrition. We took her to the hospital in Sebba but she died."
Eventually, the family found shelter in a displacement site in Dori. Eight months ago, Bandé gave birth to another set of twins, boys this time. Without nutritious food to eat, she couldn't produce enough breast milk to feed her babies. Now the boys, too, are malnourished.
More than 3.2 million children across Burkina Faso are in need of assistance
For families like Bandé's, pushed out of their homes and cut off from their livelihoods, humanitarian aid offers a lifeline.
Despite the deteriorating security situation, UNICEF continues to deliver lifesaving assistance and essential services across Burkina Faso.
In the first quarter of 2025, UNICEF reached more than 25,000 children under 5 with treatment for severe acute malnutrition. More than 10,000 mothers and children received essential health and nutrition services, and over 48,000 children were treated against malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
Read the latest situation report for details on UNICEF's emergency response in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is one of the most neglected humanitarian crises in the world
UNICEF is determined to stay and deliver in Burkina Faso, reaching 3.1 million people, including 2.8 million children, with critical support in 2025.
But global foreign aid reductions are threatening these vital services, risking children's lives and futures in an already overlooked region marked by protracted armed violence and recurrent climate shocks.
In 2024, five of UNICEF's top ten underfunded appeals were in West and Central Africa: Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger and the Sahel. In the past five years, as humanitarian needs have risen across the region, funding requirements have nearly doubled, increasing from $949.5 million in 2017 to $1.9 billion in 2024.
UNICEF's 2025 appeal to respond to the multisectoral humanitarian needs of children in Burkina Faso remains only 7 percent funded, leaving a funding gap of $236.8 million.
Learn more about UNICEF's work in Burkina Faso
A donation to UNICEF is an investment in a better future
UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from governments, private sector partners and individuals. This support has helped save millions of children’s lives, helped ensure infectious diseases do not spread across borders, and helped mitigate the risks of instability and violence.
Providing assistance when it is needed most can not only change the trajectory of a child's life, it can also help families and communities build resilience and shape a healthier, safer future.
Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
HOW TO HELP
There are many ways to make a difference
War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.
Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.
