Burkina Faso: The world’s most neglected displacement crisis

By Jessica Jeyamaridas and Jean-Benoit Harel

Burkina Faso is first on the list of the world's most neglected crises for the second year in a row, according to a report released on monday by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The humanitarian organization said that there are currently around 2 million displaced people in the West African country, most of them cut off from aid.

Each year, the Norwegian Refugee Council publishes a list of the ten most neglected displacement crises in the world. The displacement is based on three criteria: “lack of humanitarian funding, lack of media attention and a lack of international political and diplomatic initiatives”.

Insufficient funds

Marine Olivesi, advocacy manager at Norwegian Refugee Council, spoke to Vatican News, noting that “some of the trends are just getting worse, they’ve impacted our ability to provide help for the populations in these countries, because needs continue to increase and the funds are not enough”.

Victims of war

In 2023, violence-related deaths in Burkina Faso doubled. It is estimated that over 8,000 people were killed in the violence. Olivesi stressed that “last year was terrible for Burkina Faso, because the violence killed more people since the start of the conflict 5 – 6 years ago”.

International financing

Olivesi says that this annual assessment pointed out a decline in international support and media coverage, partly due to the lack of media freedom in many of the countries on the list as well as the ongoing reduction of humanitarian funding.

"We need investments for the world's most neglected crises", she stressed, "and we must make sure that financial mobilization remains sustained for development and humanitarian aid".