The humanitarian community gathered on 25 February 2017 at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. According to UNOCHA, more than 10 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in this area; 7 million experience food insecurity; 1.8 million are internally displaced; more than 1 200 schools are damaged; 3 million children need educational assistance and about 1 million houses were destroyed by Boko Haram. Co-hosted by Norway, Nigeria, Germany and the UN, the conference raised USD 672 million in additional pledges, but access and protection in Boko Haram controlled areas of Borno State remain key challenges. Read on

Sahelian migration within the region: Burkina Faso and Mali alone are responsible for over 28% of West African emigrants. Along with Niger and Chad, they are the countries whose migration trajectories are most centered on neighbouring and nearby countries. Emigrants from Senegal and Mauritania are more oriented towards the rest of the world. Read on

The regional security environment is also a concern for Chad, which has a significant security apparatus but is now suffering a sharp drop in its financial resources due to the fall in oil prices. Chad remains one of the poorest countries in the world where chronic food insecurity is a widespread issue for much of the population. Read on

Security threats exacerbate structural weaknesses: Niger, Chad and Mali are very fragile countries, combining problems related to their high rates of population growth, poverty and food insecurity. Security threats are exacerbating these structural weaknesses. In Sahelian countries, the insecurity-food complex must be addressed via a single, integrated approach. Read on