Since early January, escalating conflict and intensified M23 attacks in North and South Kivu, has displaced hundreds of thousands, worsening the humanitarian crisis and straining already scarce resources.
West and Central Africa

The West and Central Africa region is the epicentre of a fast-growing crisis with unprecedented levels of armed violence and insecurity. Millions of people are being driven to the fringes of survival due to the confluence of conflict, deep poverty, demographic pressures, urbanization, weak governance, chronically high food insecurity and malnutrition, and the impact of climate change.
OCHA focuses on strengthening humanitarian coordination and response preparedness through its country offices and its Regional Office for West and Central Africa (ROWCA), which has been based in Dakar, Senegal, since November 2003.
To mitigate the impact of natural disasters and other emergencies, ROWCA works closely with UN Resident Coordinators, Humanitarian Country Teams, national and regional organizations, and Member States.
To develop and foster regional coordination networks, ROWCA engages with Governments, external partners and regional organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States.
Regional coverage

Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso continues to face the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with one in four Burkinabè now in need of humanitarian assistance.
Cameroon
Nine out of 10 regions in Cameroon are affected by three complex humanitarian crises: the Lake Chad basin conflict, the North-West and South-West crisis, and the Central African Republic (CAR) refugee crisis.


Chad
The humanitarian crisis in Chad is becoming more entrenched due to growing food insecurity and malnutrition, forced displacement, the effects of climate change, and political, socioeconomic, health and sanitation challenges.

Mali
Mali is beset by insecurity, conflict, the impacts of climate change and limited access to basic social services, all of which are causing severe humanitarian need.

Niger
Niger continues to face an acute and complex humanitarian crisis marked by the impact of persistent insecurity, epidemics, food insecurity and floods.

Nigeria
There has been no reprieve in the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, where armed conflict is now in its thirteenth year.
The Regional Humanitarian Pooled Fund for West and Central Africa
The Regional Humanitarian Pooled Fund for West and Central Africa (RHPFWCA) was established in June 2021 as the first-ever regionally hosted Pooled Fund managed by OCHA through its Regional Office for West and Central Africa. In 2024, the RHPFWCA had country envelopes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The core mandate of the RHPFWCA is to allocate funding to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity based on humanitarian needs and identified priorities while adopting and promoting a coherent transnational approach to regional emergencies and humanitarian issues.
Funding for OCHA West and Central Africa
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