Burkina Faso: UN dispatches experts to assess contamination in wake of floods

The United Nations has sent two experts to assess contamination of water and soil in Burkina Faso, one of the countries hit hardest by the devastating West African floods, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced today.

The experts – one from Sweden and the other from Switzerland – were dispatched by the joint UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and OCHA Environment Unit to examine the impact of flooding in the capital, Ouagadougou, and the areas immediately outside the country’s urban centres.

OCHA said that around 150,000 people were affected by the floods, including some 48,000 who were driven from their homes to seek temporary accommodation in schools, churches and public buildings, and another 40,000 who found shelter with host families.

Flooding has wreaked havoc on the country’s infrastructure, causing serious damage to the Central University Hospital, bridges, dams, roads, schools and agriculture, inundating large swathes of farmland and destroying crops.

Last week, OCHA reported that only 1.6 per cent of the $18.4 million appeal launched in response to the emergency humanitarian crisis has been funded.