Mr. Dujarric echoed a report by the United Nations humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths who on Thursday called for a greater focus on sustainable solutions and cooperation in the humanitarian and development sectors as well as in the regional peacebuilding.

According to Mr. Dujarric, the UN will need about $2 billion for humanitarian response in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso this year.

Assistances in Sahel are growing every single day in the context of a crisis worsened by conflict and political instability, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and the shortage of opportunities for sustainable development, Mr. Dujarric stressed.

At the beginning of January, the Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel Mahamet Saleh Annadif warned about persistent security threats the region is currently facing.

As Saleh Annadif told the UN Security Council (UNSC) via video conference, insecurity in Sahel is compromising progress across the African continent.

Large-scale attacks on military and civilian targets in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger continue to date, he detailed.

This region is going through a complex humanitarian crisis, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic and harsh drought, the UN high representative said.

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