(AP) – The U.N. humanitarian chief is hoping a major ministerial meeting Tuesday will not only raise a billion dollars for the three countries at the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis in Africa’s Sahel region but also spur leaders to address the underlying causes, including increasing conflict and insecurity, weak governance, and a lack of development.
Mark Lowcock said in an Associated Press interview that the troubling situation in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is a symptom “of failure to deal with all of those causes of problems,” as well as rapid population growth and climate change. He said the result is a record 13 million people need humanitarian assistance across the border areas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. He said most of them are children.
