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Current Requirements (US$)$792.6 million
Crisis overview
The humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso continues to heavily impact civilians. More than 2 million people—approximately 10 per cent of the population—are internally displaced, and over one in four Burkinabe require humanitarian assistance. The protracted security crisis marked by armed violence and military operations, along with climate shocks like drought, flooding, and violent winds, has heightened vulnerabilities, especially those in hard-to-reach areas. In these regions, insecurity restricts movements, forcing communities to rely on irregular and costly resupply convoys and air operations. An estimated 1.1 million people live in these hard-to-reach areas, with some enduring these conditions for over two years.
Protection of Civilians (PoC) is more concerning than ever. Rising attacks against civilians led to nearly 2,000 civilian deaths between January and September 2024. In February alone, about 570 people were killed in 44 attacks, marking the highest monthly toll of civilian casualties. Violence against women and girls has also intensified with an average of 20 women kidnapped per month in 2024. Women and girls face high risk of protection incidents while searching for water, food, and firewood, underscoring how the lack of access to life-saving assistance and basic social services exacerbates protection risks for vulnerable people. Between January and June 2024, 146 incidents of improvised explosive devices were recorded, a 44 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. The number of civilian casualties has risen steadily over the last five years, from 50 to 63 percent of the total number of people killed, with 733 civilians killed over these five years. In 2024, 185 (32% women and 35% children) of the 293 victims, or 63 percent, were civilians, while in 2020, 50 percent of those killed were civilians, an increase of 13 percent.
Kaya, Burkina Faso
Internally displaced families seek shelter and refuge at the Buudnoma site, as they navigate difficult circumstances.
OCHA/Alassane SarrFor 2025, the humanitarian community estimates that 5.9 million people will need assistance, down from 6.3 million people the previous year. This reduction does not reflect an improvement in humanitarian conditions, rather a stricter application of the Joint and Inter-Sectoral Analysis framework 2.0 and tighter criteria for determining humanitarian needs. While previous analysis included all 13 regions, the 2025 approach focuses on humanitarian needs stemming from shocks rather than structural development challenges. For people affected by structural development challenges, humanitarian partners will advocate for humanitarian-development-peace collaboration programming.
Throughout 2024, Burkinabe authorities reported returns of displaced populations to their places of origin, while details on their locations and needs remain pending. The humanitarian community will update the needs analysis for returnees once more information becomes available in 2025, to deliver principled, needs-based assistance.
Fada, Burkina Faso
Women work together to load essential food supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP), supported by CERF.
WFP/Désiré OuédraogoResponse priorities in 2025
For 2025, humanitarian partners plan to target 3.7 million people with emergency assistance and protection services—a 4.5 per cent reduction from the target in 2024. Given capacity constraints and limited funding, a boundary-setting exercise was conducted to sharpen response targeting. The Inter-Cluster Coordination Group identified 165 priority communes (out of 351) where the needs are most severe. This approach enables a focused response in areas directly impacted by shocks—such as displacement, food insecurity, and limited access to basic social services such as water, health services and education—thereby targeting the most vulnerable populations among those in need across the country.
This coordinated approach also allows clusters to deliver multi-sectoral responses to affected populations in the same locations. Notably, 55 per cent of the targeted population in Burkina Faso are children, with needs spanning multiple sectors, such as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in nutrition, safe schools, protection and education. An integrated, people-centered response is essential, especially in the context of an ongoing protection crisis. Each cluster integrates protection risk mitigation into their programing to ensure protection remains central to the response.
Kaya, Burkina Faso
Trained in soilless cultivation, this displaced woman proudly tends her vegetable garden, bringing dietary diversity to her family.
OCHA/Alassane SarrThe Burkinabe Government’s Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 targets 6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, aligning closely with the humanitarian partners’ needs analysis and response objectives for 2025. The complementarity between the two plans enhances the impact of humanitarian assistance by the Government and humanitarian partners, leveraging the strengths of each. Those not included in humanitarian partners’ HNRP as a result of boundary-setting, are covered under the Government’ response plan, supported through bilateral assistance, development actors and the private sector.
A strategic approach to humanitarian access is essential in hard-to-reach areas, where insecurity limits overland access and air transport or escorted convoys are often required. Localization remains key as local partners are critical for implementing humanitarian activities in these areas, given the restricted physical presence and access of international actors. Local partners also work closely with local communities, as well as government partners who are indispensable for the effective delivery of aid in these areas. To sustain life-saving assistance, scaling up air operations remains a priority, alongside efforts to advocate for overland access and strengthen civil-military coordination and route risk assessments. Adapting to these challenging contexts will also require a focus on improving the resilience and self-sufficiency among residents.
In 2025, the humanitarian community is strengthening anticipatory actions to mitigate impacts and ensure effective and timely responses. A new anticipatory action framework for floods will be developed ahead of the rainy season in May, building on the existing drought framework, which has been active for the past two years.
Supporting humanitarians to reach the most isolated communities in need
Humanitarian operations in Burkina Faso heavily depend on air transport to deliver life-saving items to hard-to-reach areas where, due to insecurity, overland access is significantly limited. These areas are largely cut off from the rest of the country with limited market supplies. Helicopter cargo operations are indispensable for delivering aid and sustaining humanitarian workers on the ground. The notion of Stay and Deliver, underscored by the commitment of frontline local staff members, remains crucial in ensuring aid reaches the most isolated communities.
But air operations cost between 12 to 50 times more than overland transport, challenging national organizations’ access to these costly essential services. However, the Airbus Foundation’s in-kind support enabled 52 hours of free air cargo flights in 2024 for national and international partners, transporting essential food, medicines, nutritional supplies, and other cargo for staff working in remote areas in the East region. The support boosted the effectiveness of humanitarian operations.
Financial requirements
For 2025, humanitarian partners are requesting $793 million to support Burkina Faso’s humanitarian response. Strict prioritization was applied to establish a feasible funding requirement, focusing solely on crisis-affected people with acute vulnerabilities. Meeting all identified humanitarian needs would likely require double this amount.
In recent years, the HRP in Burkina Faso has received less than 50 per cent of requested funds, highlighting chronic funding shortfalls. In August 2024, the Humanitarian Country Team endorsed a collective advocacy strategy to boost resource mobilization through 2025. Since the 2024 HNRP is strictly focused on the most vulnerable populations, underfunding this plan will result in a high cost of inaction, jeopardizing lives in areas of critical need.
Funding requirements were calculated using unit-based costing. Clusters such as food security, health, nutrition and WASH, factored in the high costs of air transport for delivering life-saving items to hard-to-reach areas—12 to 50 times more costly than overland transportation—significantly driving up operational costs.
Evolution de la réponse humanitaire
14-May-2025
Evolution de la réponse humanitaire
| Année | Type | Personnes dans le besoin | Personnes ciblées | Besoins financiers ($) | Financement ($) | % Financé |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 |
5.9 million
|
3.7 million
|
$792.6 million
|
$108.2 million
|
13.7%
|
|
| 2024 |
6.3 million
|
3.8 million
|
$934.6 million
|
$427.9 million
|
45.8%
|
|
| 2023 |
4.6 million
|
3.1 million
|
$876.7 million
|
$346.8 million
|
39.6%
|
|
| 2022 |
4.9 million
|
3.8 million
|
$805.1 million
|
$353.6 million
|
43.9%
|
|
| 2021 |
3.5 million
|
2.9 million
|
$607.9 million
|
$312.4 million
|
51.4%
|
|
| 2020 |
2.9 million
|
2.1 million
|
$424.4 million
|
$256.5 million
|
60.4%
|
|
| 2019 |
1.5 million
|
1.3 million
|
$187 million
|
$94.1 million
|
50.3%
|
|
| 2018 |
Other
|
1 million
|
0.7 million
|
$90.3 million
|
$56 million
|
62%
|
| 2017 |
HRP
|
|
|
$61.1 million
|
$29.7 million
|
48.6%
|
| 2016 |
HRP
|
|
|
$90.5 million
|
$54.8 million
|
60.6%
|
2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction
Response highlights
From January to September 2024, humanitarian organizations reached about 1.3 million people, representing 34 per cent of the target population. This includes people living in areas with significant access constraints where humanitarian partners rely on air operations to deliver assistance.
Key achievements included:
Food
Food assistance to 1.2 million people
Protection
Protection services to 600,000
Mental health and psychosocial support
Mental health and psychosocial support to 190,000 children
Logistics
Thanks to donor contributions, UNHAS cargo operation transported 520 tons of life-saving supplies to hard-to-reach areas during this period.
Consequences of inaction
Funding constraints significantly limit response capacity. As of 25 November, the Burkina Faso HRP is only 42 per cent funded, leaving approximately 66 per cent of targeted populations without assistance. Even those who received aid often saw less support, limited to certain sectors or reduced in quantity. In some hard-to-reach areas, like Diapaga in the Est region, access challenges and funding shortfalls resulted in only one or two rounds of food distribution during the first 9 months of the year.
In the third quarter of 2024, approximately 7,865 families received no immediate assistance, and access delays stretched response times. In some areas, it can take more than three months to deliver first-line minimum rapid response packages to displaced communities. Many affected populations remain in open spaces without any assistance, at high risk of protection risks.
Humanitarian partners in Burkina Faso face impossible daily choices daily—forced to prioritize limited resources—deciding, for example, whether to provide shelters to those displaced by security shocks or those affected by floods, or whether to use expensive air operations to deliver medicines or nutritional supplies. Affected communities also face impossible choices, sharing already overstretched resources.