West Africa

West Africa is hit by its worst food crisis in a decade, with 27 million people going hungry. This number could rise to 38 million this June - a new historic level and already an increase by more than a third over last year- unless urgent action is taken.

The military coup in Burkina Faso late January made headlines. The registration that same month of over 160,000 newly displaced Burkinabé, a near-record high figure, did not. The jump marks the second biggest monthly increase since the humanitarian crisis started in the country over three years ago, warned the Norwegian Refugee Council, Action Against Hunger, Médecins du Monde France and Oxfam.

West African governments are planning to “slash and burn” their way out of COVID-19 induced economic loss, reveals new analysis from Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI) today. The organizations are calling for an urgent change of course as West African governments are preparing their annual budgets and participating in the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, which are crucial discussions to focus the recovery on fighting inequality and poverty.

Inequality is at crisis levels in West Africa, yet these governments are less committed to reducing inequality than the rest of the continent.

Oxfam welcomes the World Bank's announcement to provide money to support the long term recovery of the three Ebola-affected countries. It is crucial that the world does not turn away once the Ebola crisis is brought under control if we are going to prevent outbreaks from striking again.

The decline in new Ebola cases is good news and it makes sense for President Obama to withdraw US troops, but the fight's not over yet. We must stay vigilant and support people in affected countries until West Africa reaches zero new cases.

Sierra Leone has declared a public health state of emergency in a bid to contain the spread of Ebola, including imposing quarantines. An effective quarantine strategy provides a means of mitigating the spread of Ebola and saving lives, but only when implemented correctly

Ebola is a humanitarian crisis first and foremost – but it is also a mounting economic disaster for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Last week, Malian singer and guitarist Afel Bocoum was joined in Mali by British musician Damon Albarn for a unique music project aimed at drawing international attention to the growing humanitarian crisis in Mali and to the regional food crisis in West and Central Africa.

Incoming World Bank president Jim Yong Kim must step up efforts to assist developing countries threatened by the euro zone crisis fallout, international agency Oxfam said ahead of his first day on the job.