Regional office for

West and Central Africa

Displaced women are seen preparing dinner
Displaced women are seen preparing dinner at the informal camp in Bagoundié, 8 km far from Gao, in Mali. The camp hosts 300 households who fled their homes in Tessit, near Ansongo, due to the ongoing conflict and clashes between armed groups OCHA/Michele Cattani
Support our work

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

A mother and her child sit outside their makeshift shelter at the Lushagala displacement site in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Country office

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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.

Learn more
Displaced children in Burkina Faso access education through radio-based learning, funded by the Regional Humanitarian Fund, offering an alternative path to schooling.
Country office

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.

Learn more
Karen Perrin, OCHA’s head of office in Cameroon, plants a tree in the Minawao refugee camp in the country’s northern border, as part of a reforestation project in response to the drought. Photo: OCHA//Bibiane Mouangue
Country office

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.

Learn more
Three women and a young man look at the camera. Some of the women are clutching a plastic sheet. A UN vehicle and tents can be seen in the background.
Country office

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.

Learn more
A woman displays her aid card after receiving relief supplies from humanitarian partners. Mali, floods
Country office

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.

Learn more
A medical team from the NGO, Action Pour le Bien Être, with a patient in a camp for the internally displaced in Ouallam, Niger. A project financed by the OCHA-managed Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa supports efforts to respond to gender-based violence, provision of emergency shelter, non-food items and healthcare service. Photo; OCHA/Michele Cattani
Country office

Niger

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

Learn more
Falmata Goni and her baby at a stabilization centre managed by International Rescue Committee in Bama local government area, Borno State. 2 May 2023. The centre is supported by OCHA. Photo: OCHA/Adedeji Ademigbuji
Country office

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.

Learn more

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.

Resources

World + 4 more

Evaluation and Lessons Learned

Respuesta y recomendaciones basadas en el segundo informe anual de aprendizaje externo, y de dos años de apoyo a los países de la Iniciativa Flagship, por parte del Equipo de Apoyo a la Iniciativa Flagship de la Sede de OCHA, abril de 2025

Esta nota de presentación por parte de la OCHA se refiere al segundo informe anual de aprendizaje externo de los países pilotos de la Iniciativa Flagship, que son Colombia, Filipinas, Níger y Sudán...

Originally published
Source
  • UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Read more

Funding for OCHA West and Central Africa