UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Humanitarian situation has worsened in parts of Burkina Faso due to armed attacks and insecurity, a UN spokesperson said Friday.
In the African country, armed attacks and insecurity continue to affect parts of the north and east, driving forced displacement and increasing the number of people in need of assistance and protection, said Florencia Soto Nino, associate spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
An average of 30,000 people has been displaced every month since the start of the year. Currently, more than 270,000 internally displaced people are living in host communities or displacement sites, she said.
Access to food, livelihoods and basic services is becoming increasingly difficult for both displaced and host communities, she continued.
"During July, there was a nearly 35-percent surge in the number of health facilities closed due to insecurity, depriving over 625,000 people of access to basic health care," she said.
"Over 2,000 schools have been forced to shut down, depriving over 330,000 children of education," she added.
The government-led relief efforts, with support from the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, are underway to improve food, water, health services and protection of affected civilians.
The spokesperson said the revised Humanitarian Response Plan, released in August, is calling for 187 million U.S. dollars to provide urgent assistance to nearly 1.3 million people, including 800,000 affected by violence and insecurity, but it is only 30 percent funded so far.
