Burkina Faso has registered more than 921,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as of June 2020, an increase of about 8.62% compared to the situation at the end of April last year, according to OCHA. Almost half (42%) of these displaced are in the Centre-North region.
Since January 2019, this region has been facing violence by armed groups and intercommunal violence, leading to an exponential increase in population displacement in this part of the country. By the end of May, at least 21 health facilities were closed in this region and 38 were operating at minimum capacity. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in the Centre-North provide primary health care to populations in Kaya, Pissila, Barsalogho, Pensa (Sanmatenga province); Tougouri, Bouroum (Namentenga), Kongoussi, Bourzanga (Bam). In addition to the outposts, MSF is deploying mobile clinics to provide health care to people in the outlying areas. Our teams also distributed essential household items to displaced families living in Silmangué, who also received shelter kits that will enable them to have decent housing. For populations fleeing violence, living conditions in the host areas are often precarious: insufficient food, adequate housing, hygienic sanitation facilities, healthcare, etc.