Sahel Region

People across the Sahel are facing a deepening humanitarian and protection crisis. While most displacement is caused by armed groups targeting civilians, natural hazards such as seasonal floods add further pressure. Since 2025, gaps in food security and other basic assistance have become the fastest-growing reasons why families are forced to move, following major global funding cuts and programme suspensions. These shocks hit a region already coping with high poverty, limited economic opportunities, and scarce essential services, making displacement even more devastating for communities.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

Reported population movements

12%

Movements linked to conflict

41%

While conflict remains the main reason people are forced to flee, displacement is increasingly driven by limited aid, weak basic services, food shortages, and scarce natural resources.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

Movement restrictions

24%

Restrictions outside the community

51%

Armed conflicts continue to pose challenge for freedom of movement, making it difficult to access basic services, carry out daily activities, and travel.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

No safe drinking water

59%

No adequate health services

55%

Insufficient basic services leave essential needs unattended. This is also exacerbated by global funding reductions and suspensions in 2025, affecting NGO operations on the ground and leading to aid program closures.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

No access to GBV services

24%

Due to no or distant services

70%

Women and girls are disproportionately more affected by protection risks. More than 1 in 2 women in the region report feeling unsafe, in particular outside their communities and when carrying out certian daily activities such as fetching firewood and water.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

Need for food

40%

Need for economic support

57%

Due to widespread food insecurity and poverty, families start to reduce number of daily meals and/or reduce portion of each meal. Such precarity exposes further vulnerable groups and increases the risk of GBV.

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Sahel Region Data from areas monitored by Project 21

Integration of displaced populations

93%

Concerns about return of displaced people

13%

Despite the many challenges, communities across the Sahel show remarkable solidarity. Displaced families often feel well integrated in their host communities, and in some areas, local residents donate land to help them rebuild self-sufficiency.

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