Aid drains from Africa as focus shifts to Ukraine

Aid agencies are expressing concern that the crisis in Ukraine is causing donors to cut funding for other emergencies – including conflicts in West Africa and droughts in the east of the continent.

In Burkina Faso, where a jihadist conflict is spreading, aid organisations including the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam say donors are cutting funds by 70% to support their operations in Ukraine.

They say this will have devastating consequences for the more than 1.7 million people who have fled their homes because of the jihadist violence.

In Somalia, the UN is warning that the Ukraine crisis means more funding problems for a drought affecting nearly a third of the population.

Global poverty levels have shot up because of the coronavirus pandemic, meanwhile the impact of climate change continues to cause havoc and food prices have been soaring.

Another war will make things even worse.