Burkina Faso

Working environment    

• The Malian refugee crisis led to a protracted humanitarian situation in which basic needs persisted. A recent survey showed that almost 80 per cent of the Malian refugees were reluctant to return home. Refugees who settled in the driest part of the country faced increasing competition for natural resources.
• As part of a fragile security context, refugees were at high risk of turning to negative coping mechanisms, whilst the civil and humanitarian character of the camps was maintained.
• One of the main challenges that UNHCR faced in Burkina Faso was the lack of funding to initiate new, development-oriented approaches designed to build the resilience and self-reliance of persons of concern.

Population trends

• The number of refugees rose from 32,000 in early 2015 to 34,000 at the end of the year. Some 98 per cent are Malians, and around 70 per cent of them live in two camps in the Sahel region. The remaining 2 per cent include urban refugees, the majority of whom are from the Central African Republic. Nearly 1,100 Malian refugees opted to return to Mali through the UNHCR-facilitated repatriation programme, while 2,100 new arrivals were reported from Mali.

Achievements and impact    

• Refugee protection was strengthened through sustainable livelihood opportunities. By the end of 2015, 2,800 refugees were included in a milk value chain, which brings together a number of actors for the production and sale of milk. Moreover, some 1,800 refugees and members of host communities received technical trainings on animal health, herd management, milk production and milk processing, while some 1,500 refugee children under the age of five received quality milk from project-supported dairies.
• Fifty refugee artisans produced export-ready items, while some 500 Malian Tuareg refugee artisans, 60 per cent of which were women, received training in business and product design and processes. 

Unmet needs

• Humanitarian access to refugees living outside camps was limited because of increasing insecurity in the northern Sahel region.
• Funding constraints hindered refugee access to primary education as well as to sustainable shelters and energy; some 4,900 households did not receive shelter in 2015. In addition, some 5,200 refugee households did not receive energy-saving stoves.