West and Central Africa

Regional overview

West and Central Africa is grappling with a complex and escalating humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of people. Ongoing violence, persistent conflict, and environmental disasters are forcing families to flee their homes and making it harder for them to meet their basic needs. Millions of people have been forcibly displaced across the region, including 12.7 million IDPs and 3.7 million refugees and asylum-seekers. Most of displaced people are women and children, many of whom have fled multiple times and face serious risks, including gender-based violence and exploitation with reports of rape and transactional sex as means of survival.

Conflict continues to spread. Violence from the Central Sahel—especially in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—has spilled over to Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Mauritania. Meanwhile, insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin and ongoing conflict in Sudan are forcing even more people to flee their homes.

Severe weather is making things worse. In 2025, heavy rains and flooding affected over 2 million people in 12 countries, destroying crops, damaging homes, and cutting off access to schools and clinics. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was hit especially hard, with over 831,000 people affected. These disasters are wiping out people’s sources of income and food, pushing already vulnerable communities deeper into crisis.

Humanitarian access remains a major constraint in the region, where insecurity, restricted movement, bureaucratic impediments, logistics obstacles, as well as misinformation and disinformation discrediting humanitarian actors hinder the delivery of life-saving aid to people in need.

In 2026, more than 42 million people across the region will need help to survive and stay safe. Humanitarian organizations are working to reach those in greatest need, aiming to reach 24 million people. To deliver essential lifesaving aid and protection, $5.1 billion is required. However, funding shortfalls have forced the response to shrink and tough choices are being made about where to focus efforts and who can be supported. Without urgent resources, families will increasingly face hunger, displacement, and protection risks across West and Central Africa leading to further suffering.

Burkina Faso

People in Need at launch (Dec. 2025)

4.4 million

People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2025)

3.1 million

Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2025)

662 million

People urgently prioritized

1.6 million

Urgently prioritized requirements (US$)

342 million

Crisis overview

Burkina Faso continues to face a protracted humanitarian crisis driven mainly by insecurity. The crisis is significantly impacting civilian populations across affected regions. According to the Government’s National Council for Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (CONASUR), over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin as of July 2025. While there are ongoing efforts to improve the situation, the context remains challenging, and civilian protection continues to be a key concern. More than 167,000 people were newly displaced between January and July 2025, according to CONASUR. The country also hosts approximately 42,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from neighboring countries. In addition to insecurity, climate shocks and public health emergencies continue to exacerbate vulnerabilities. These shocks further disrupt livelihoods, health systems, and access to essential social services.

Humanitarian partners estimate that 4.4 million people will require assistance in 2026, representing a 25 per cent decrease compared with 2025. This reduction is primarily attributed to the tighter inclusion criteria under the global Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF), which now covers only areas with an inter-sectoral needs' severity rating of 3 or higher and shifts analysis from administrative level 3 to level 2. Sector-specific developments also contributed to this decline: the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) cluster reports reduced needs due to sustainable interventions in 2025, as does the Food Security cluster following government-led assessments.

Two humanitarian workers walk through a rural settlement with round thatched huts.

Yaadga, Burkina Faso

Humanitarian workers conduct an assessment visit at a spontaneous site for internally displaced persons.

OCHA/Yacouba Lengani

Despite this overall reduction, severe needs persist across the board and have also risen in some sectors. The Health and Nutrition clusters both report an increase in the number of people in need (PIN), driven mainly by the closure of health facilities or reduced services due to insecurity and funding shortfalls.

The 2026 humanitarian needs analysis in Burkina Faso was conducted at the national level, covering all 17 regions. Partners assessed needs based on key shocks: (i) insecurity, (ii) climate shocks, and (iii) public health emergencies. The analysis was guided by humanitarian principles and prioritized the perspectives of affected populations, including IDPs, returnees, non-displaced communities, and refugees.

Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026

In 2026, humanitarian partners will target approximately 3.1 million people with emergency assistance and protection services, a 16 per cent reduction from the 2025 target. Given the challenging funding context, the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) has identified “humanitarian convergence zones”: 29 (out of 47) provinces where humanitarian actors will aim to provide an integrated package of assistance. This approach will help promote efficiency across the operation. The integrated package will prioritize the most vulnerable people in areas with high concentrations of IDPs and returnees, and seek to ensure equitable and sustainable access to essential services. These interventions will mainly cover the following sectors: Protection, Food Security, Shelter, Non-Food Items, WASH, Health, Nutrition, and Education. Humanitarian partners require $662 million to implement these programmes in 2026; estimated requirements are based on unit-based costing. This represents a 17 per cent decrease in requirements compared to 2025, roughly in line with the 16 per cent reduction in the target.

Koulsé, Burkina Faso

Adama, a 64-year-old farmer, offered part of his 25 hectares to host 50 families (2,320 displaced people) at the Buudnooma site. “I gave what I had: land to shelter them and to farm,” he said. Since September 2023, the site has been equipped with latrines, boreholes, and hygiene kits, easing the burden on the community.

OCHA/Alassane Sarr

Targets and approaches in 2026 are based on feedback from affected communities. In 2025, the ICCG and the Community Engagement and Accountability Working Group (CEAWG) collected feedback from 22,000 people across the country. Analyses demonstrate a high demand for in-kind assistance (mainly food, shelter, drinking water, and school supplies), particularly in areas with limited access to markets. However, a considerable proportion of affected people also emphasized the importance of livelihood support to meet their essential needs. This feedback is being used to inform humanitarian partners’ operational plans. Humanitarian access remains difficult, severely hindering response efforts. People in mostly hard-to-reach areas can only be reached by air or escorted convoys. Maintaining air operations is of paramount importance to ensure the continued delivery of life-saving aid, while continuing to strengthen coordinated ground access.

The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), developed by humanitarian partners, is designed to complement and support the national government's strategic plan for humanitarian response. Close alignment and synergy between these two frameworks maximize the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, sustained coordination with development actors remains critical to ensuring a coherent and integrated response.

2025 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

Humanitarian assistance

1.4 million people reached with humanitarian assistance (39 per cent of people targeted), including 372,000 people in hard-to-reach areas (Jan to Sep 2025).

Food

Implementation of community-based, cost-effective service delivery models, in addition to food ration cuts to spread food aid more widely, in order to assist more people with fewer resources (22 per cent funding requirements met as of September)

Response

272 MT of humanitarian cargo airlifted through the Airbus Foundation, with priority given to local NGOs (53 per cent of cargo transported)

Health

736,000 people reached with health assistance (Jan to Sep 2025)

A young woman sits at a table with a sewing machine and smiles as she holds up a patterned dress she has sewn.

Yaadga, Burkina Faso

A Malian refugee in Ouahigouya learning sewing skills.

UNHCR/ Virginie Zoubéré

Consequences of funding cuts

Health

617,000 vulnerable people unable to access healthcare due to the closure or non-functioning of health facilities as a result of insecurity – and 40,000 people cut off from healthcare due to funding shortages (Jan to Sep 2025)

Shelter

58,000 people left without shelter or essential household items due to suspension of funding for key projects (Jan to Sep 2025)

Gender based violence

Major gaps in services and care for survivors of gender-based violence, with only 45,000 people receiving dignity kits (9 per cent target) and just over 1,600 receiving firewood alternatives or livelihoods assistance (7 per cent target)

Nutrition

More than one-third of all nutrition programmes – and thousands of children’s lives – at risk in 2026 due to reduction and withdrawal of certain funding streams

Aid in Action

Anticipatory action in Burkina Faso: a mother’s effort against floods

A muddy water pond in a dry, barren landscape with sparse trees and rocky hills in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

Koulsé, Burkina Faso

OCHA/Alassane Sarr

In Koulsé, people face relentless threats from floods and climate shocks, which destroy homes, wipe out crops and deepen food insecurity. For families there, survival depends on acting before disaster strikes.

Martine, a mother and community leader, is at the forefront of mitigating the impact of floods in her village. “Our drainage channels are not trash bins”, she says. Thanks to an Anticipatory Action intervention, her community learned to clear waterways, plant trees, and use special bags to store vital possessions from water damage.

These lessons have transformed fear into action. Martine now mobilizes her neighbors to keep drainage clear, turning shared risk into shared resilience. “This knowledge strengthened my ability to protect my family and support my community,” she added.

Thanks to OCHA’s regional pooled fund for West and Central Africa, anticipatory action was made possible in Burkina Faso and Chad, marking the first Anticipatory Action support by an OCHA regional fund and building proactive, community-driven solutions. Across the region, over $80 million was pre-arranged for anticipatory action, including 65 per cent from the CERF. Families like Martine’s are striving to act before a disaster strikes, one household at a time. 

Cameroon

People in Need at launch (Dec. 2025)

2.9 million

People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2025)

1.8 million

Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2025)

308 million

People urgently prioritized

1.0 million

Urgently prioritized requirements (US$)

171 million

Crisis overview

Despite of minimal public attention, the humanitarian situation in Cameroon continues to be deeply concerning with three concurrent crises that show no sign of abating: the Lake Chad Basin conflict, the North-West and South-West crisis and the influx of Central African Republic refugees. In 2026, humanitarian needs are expected to persist due to ongoing conflict, violence and insecurity, climate-related shocks, and health emergencies, leaving 2.9 million people in urgent need of assistance. This includes 1.4 million people in the Far North, 1.1 million people in the North-West and South-West and 337,000 people among Central African and urban refugees.

Cameroon hosts over 845,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), nearly 791,000 returnees and around 426,000 refugees and asylum seekers. The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will maintain its strategic focus on the most affected regions and population groups: IDPs, returnees, refugees, host communities and those left behind. Crisis-affected populations have expressed urgent needs related to safety and protection, access to clean water, healthcare, education, food security and sustainable livelihoods.

A woman sits on the ground smiling, surrounded by relief items including pots, a basin, blankets, and a large white sack.

Far North Region, Cameroon

A woman affected by attacks from non-state armed groups receives emergency assistance.

Première Urgence Internationale/Eliya ZRA

The slight decrease in the number of people in need from 3.3 million people in 2025 to 2.9 million people in 2026 reflects a more strategic and shock-driven scope of analysis, which now focuses only on populations living in areas in inter-sectoral severity 3 to 5. This reduction does not indicate an improvement in the humanitarian situation in a context where conflict and insecurity are ongoing and structural development gaps and chronic vulnerabilities continue to deepen humanitarian needs.

Operational capacities have been significantly impacted by years of underfinancing and the drastic reduction of funds from certain donors in 2025, limiting the ability to respond effectively. Strengthened advocacy is urgently needed to mobilize resources, create an enabling environment for humanitarian operations and ensure that no one is forgotten. The international community must recognize the scale of the crisis and support a principled, coordinated response to alleviate suffering and uphold human dignity in Cameroon.

Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026

Cameroon is one of the eight accelerated transition countries under the Humanitarian Reset. As such, and despite continued high humanitarian needs, Cameroon is undergoing a significant shift in its humanitarian architecture. The country is transitioning from the internationally led Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) model to a more localized approach led by national and local actors. As part of this transition, and given the continued severity of humanitarian needs, the HCT has agreed to develop a streamlined strategic planning document for 2026 to maintain visibility on needs and support advocacy and resource mobilization efforts.

In 2026, the humanitarian response in Cameroon will require an estimated $308 million to deliver timely, principled and inclusive life-saving assistance to 1.8 million people targeted, prioritizing the 1 million people facing the most severe needs.

The targeting methodology used for 2026 will maximize the impact of limited resources by maintaining a sharp focus on the most life-threatening needs across the Far North, North-West and South-West regions as well as in the eastern regions impacted by the influx of Central African refugees. Thus, in alignment with global guidance, the 2026 targets will start from divisions in that scope with a level of severity 3, to ensure a more comprehensive coverage of vulnerable populations facing deteriorating conditions. However, the prioritized target will focus on areas with inter-sectoral severity 4, where people experience the most critical needs.

A woman waters crops in a lush garden while a humanitarian worker guides her.

East Region, Cameroon

Training and support provided in farmer training fields.

Action Contre la Faim Cameroun

The current approach also reflects the recent adjustments in severity classification in the North-West region, with Bui division moving from severity 3 to 4, while Boyo and Donga-Mantung have shifted from severity 4 to 3. Severities in the other main regions within the 2026 geographical scope remain unchanged.

The preliminary financial requirement estimates for 2026 are calculated based on the average cost per person from the last three years, applied to the targeted population for 2026. The prioritized financial requirements ($ 171 million) have been calculated using the same formula but applied to the prioritized caseload of 1 million people.

In 2026, humanitarian partners will deliver multi-sectoral aid, encompassing food assistance, protection (with a focus on gender-based violence, child protection services, and protection monitoring), health services, water, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as shelter, through a combination of in-kind and cash-based modalities. Voluntary repatriation for refugees, mainly to the Central African Republic, will continue to be supported by funding efforts through the CAR Platform. Meanwhile, in the Far North, projects aimed at enhancing refugee inclusion through economic development activities, particularly in Minawao camp, will be implemented. Community consultations and feedback mechanisms inform the response to ensure it aligns with the priorities of crisis-affected populations.

However, due to resource constraints and response prioritization, around 1.1 million people in need will not be targeted in 2026. This underscores the urgent need for sustained advocacy for additional funding to address unmet needs and prevent further deterioration.

2025 in review: response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

In 2025, 3.3 million people living in Cameroon needed humanitarian assistance and protection. As of 30 September 2025, humanitarian partners had reached more than 662,000 people in crisis-affected areas.

Education

More than 144,000 people were provided with access to formal and non-formal education including girls, boys and adolescents.

Food security

A total of 294,000 people received food, agriculture, and livelihood support, including through cash transfers.

Health

Over 309,000 people received essential healthcare, including in hard-to-reach areas through mobile clinics.

Nutrition

Partners reached more than 186,000 people including children with nutrition services and lifesaving treatment for severe and acute malnutrition.

Protection

Partners provided protection services to 233,000 people, including 108,000 people with gender-based violence services, 207,000 people with child protection services, and 14,000 people with legal assistance and counselling on housing, land and property.

Shelter

More than 77,000 people received emergency shelter items and NFI assistance.

WASH

242,000 persons benefited from sustainable access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation and hygiene services.

A young boy sits in a hand-pedaled blue wheelchair.

Far North Region, Cameroon

In Makary, Ibrahim, 13, received a tricycle wheelchair from Plan International, allowing him to attend school like his peers for the first time. Previously, his inability to walk made this impossible.

Plan International Cameroon/Ayrton Sadieu

Consequences of funding cuts

Underfunding

In 2025, 2.1 million people were targeted for assistance, however, projections indicate that only 800,000 will be reached by year’s end. Due to severe underfunding, 1.3 million people will be left without their urgent needs met. Severe funding cuts have led to a significant reduction in assistance and the cost of inaction means a greater impact on people affected by the crisis.

Conflict

Conflict and insecurity impact civilians and undermine humanitarian access in Cameroon. Lockdowns imposed by non-State armed groups and seasonal damage to key roads have further constrained humanitarian access and delayed life-saving assistance.

Security

As of September 2025, insecurity in the North-West and South-West had resulted in over 3,300 security incidents including severe access restrictions, use of improvised explosive devices, and repeated attacks on schools and health facilities.

Violent attacks and looting

In the Far North, humanitarian actors also faced violent attacks and looting, with services disrupted by attacks on health and education facilities and the abduction of more than 370 people, including children. 

Aid in Action

Putting people first : Cameroon’s journey toward accountability

A smiling girl, wearing a red backpack, waves while standing in front of a simple shelter made from branches.

Far North Region, Cameroon.

A girl beneficiary of the Back-to-school programme.

ARDHU/ Gildas Tchana

In Cameroon, humanitarian actors have made a strong commitment to place affected populations at the centre of the response. Three collective tools support practical implementation of accountability:

A dashboard that monitors complaints and feedback
A joint Humanitarian Complaint and Feedback Mechanism that centralizes and manages community feedback across humanitarian actors
A perception survey that amplifies the voices of those we serve

The perception survey stands out as a transformative experience. Since 2024, local organizations have taken the lead, gathering insights from over 8,000 individuals including women, girls, men, boys, persons with disabilities, and elderly people across diverse regions.

What makes this survey exceptional is not just its scale but its ownership. At least 31 local organizations voluntarily participated, reducing operational costs and significantly enhancing community trust.

By listening directly to people’s experiences, these organizations didn’t just collect feedback, they embraced ownership of accountability. The results of the survey are widely shared in the humanitarian community and nourish sectoral analyses to eventually strengthen the planning of the humanitarian response.

This exercise has shown that when local actors lead, the response becomes more grounded, more accepted, and more effective. It’s a story of localization, dignity, and the power of listening.

Central African Republic

Current People in Need

2.3 million
Current People Targeted

1.3 million
Current Requirements (US$)

$264.1 million

Go to plan details

People in Need at launch (Dec. 2025)

2.3 million

People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2025)

1.3 million

Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2025)

264.2 million

People urgently prioritized

932.2 thousand

Urgently prioritized requirements (US$)

214.1 million

Crisis overview

Over the last 2 years, the security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic has relatively improved in some areas. However, parts of CAR continue to face a serious humanitarian crisis caused by conflicts, floods, disease outbreaks, and regional instability, resulting in over 52,700 Refugees and Asylum Seekers, mainly from Sudan, Chad, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, currently hosted by CAR. In 2026, an estimated 2.3 million people will need humanitarian assistance. This represents a 9% decrease in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance compared to 2025. This reduction is due to a relative improvement in the overall security situation as well as the focus of the HNRP on vulnerabilities linked to recent shocks with humanitarian consequences, while structural needs are to be addressed by development actors.

Thus, the scope of analysis for the HPC 2026 focused on sub-prefectures affected by 3 main shocks (conflict/insecurity, natural disasters particularly flooding, health emergencies including epidemics) within the last 24 months, and areas where IDPs and/or returnees make up at least 25 per cent of the total population in the area, and localities that host refugees, thereby reducing by 23 per cent the financial asks ($264.2 million) required for the humanitarian response in 2026. The timeline has increased from 12 to 24 months due to the limited scope of the response in 2025, as well as the decrease in funding in 2025.

A group of women and young children sit closely together on the ground, listening attentively.

Central African Republic

Batoul fled her home in June. She told a humanitarian mission that she had received some assistance but could not cultivate her field because of insecurity in her village.

OCHA/Maxime Nama

In 2025, over 45,000 new preventive displacements were recorded in the west, northeast, and southeast of CAR due to clashes between parties to the conflict and attacks against civilians by armed elements. However, there has been a slight decrease (5.8 per cent) in the overall number of IDPs (442,320 as of August 31, 2025) in comparison to December 2024. The decrease in large-scale displacements and improvements in the security conditions are partly linked to the dissolution of several armed groups and ongoing disarmament efforts following the N’Djamena peace agreement. There has also been a progressive reduction in the severity and impacts of flash floods recorded in 2025 (7,800 individuals in 10 sub-prefectures) compared to 2024 (45,900 individuals in 18 sub-prefectures).

However, health systems continue to struggle to respond to vaccine-preventable epidemics such as hepatitis E, Mpox, and Rabies, which cyclically occur especially in areas with poor water and sanitation and are likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Moreover, rising food insecurity has kept overall needs high across 65 sub-prefectures, with one in three Central Africans being acutely food insecure. As of September, nearly 2 million people (29%) faced crisis or emergency levels, and this is expected to rise to 2.3 million (35%) during the 2026 lean season due to poor food access and reduced aid.

In addition, gender-based violence remains widespread, with approximately 10,000 cases reported between January and September 2025—mostly affecting women and girls, including minors. While over 85% of survivors received medical care, coverage dropped to only 20% of the territory compared to 44% in 2024, reflecting the reduced presence of specialized organizations rather than a real improvement in the situation. Finally, explosive and unexploded devices (IEDs and UXOs) pose a threat to civilians and restrict humanitarian access. In 2025, 73 incidents were reported, causing 13 deaths and 28 injuries. Recent cases in the southeast reflect renewed clashes between armed groups and security forces.

Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026

In 2025, 1.8 million people were targeted, but only 720,300 (41 per cent) people were reached by September 30, due to drastic cuts in humanitarian funding. In 2025, the HNRP requested $326.1 million, but by the end of October, only $88.9 million had been received, representing 27% of the financial requirements. The funding shortfalls affected operational capacity in CAR, resulting in the closure of 61 humanitarian bases or programs, drastically reducing the delivery of critical assistance, especially in remote areas. This dire financial reality calls for a shift: prioritizing the most vulnerable based on severity of needs, focusing on quality, accountability, and local leadership.

In 2026, the humanitarian community in CAR will focus on life-saving assistance, protection, and locally driven solutions, reflecting current realities and shaped by community feedback. The response will target 1.3 million (932.2 thousand hyper-prioritised). The 2026 financial appeal is $264.2 million, representing a 19 per cent decrease compared to 2025 ($326.1 million). In regard to the prioritization methodology for the 2026 HNRP, zonal prioritization was based on the results of priority areas identified by the affected communities based on the severity of shocks and community adaptation mechanisms associated with the severity of needs to define the operational priorities by sector. The median of the sectoral operational priorities was used to define the intersectoral operational priorities. Thus, the hyper-prioritised figures (932.2 thousand people) were identified in 47 of the 65 subprefectures covered by the HNRP.

A woman and a child prepare food outdoors, using a large wooden pestle and mortar in a yard.

Haut-Mbomou, Central African Republic

Patrick helps his grandmother pound cassava leaves for dinner as they shelter at the Catholic church site for internally displaced people in Zemio. They fled insecurity in Mboki and Djemah in May.

OCHA/Harold Nishimagizwe

In terms of prioritizing activities, all life-saving activities are considered (OS1 activities) for all clusters except Protection (OS1 and OS2). Humanitarian partners will prioritize essential services based on community needs and feasibility. National NGOs will play a stronger role, with the CAR Humanitarian Fund aiming to increase their share of funding beyond the 30% reached in September 2025 to 35 per cent in 2026. This will help reinforce local leadership, sustainability, and proximity to those most in need.

Community feedback mechanisms, through AAP and local coordination platforms, will guide priorities, monitor progress, and adjust programming in real time. Multi-purpose cash assistance will expand to accessible areas, giving people more flexibility and dignity in meeting their needs. Its rollout will be based on market conditions, security, and community preferences, and linked to sectoral support for greater impact. Coordination will continue to shift toward area-based approaches, promoting decentralization and amplifying the voices of national actors and affected communities, especially outside Bangui. This will make planning more targeted and responsive to actual needs.

Clear priorities will help connect humanitarian aid with longer-term support. Advocacy for funding through durable solutions will ensure that all communities are included in broader strategies aligned with the National Development Plan and the Durable Solutions Strategy. This approach aims to leave no one behind by promoting inclusive programming and long-term support for underserved and hard-to-reach populations.

2025 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights (January – June 2025)