U.N. seeks $2 billion for Sahel, fears donor fatigue

By Misha Hussain DAKAR, Feb 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United Nations appealed on Monday for more than $2 billion to feed and care for a record 20 million people across Africa's Sahel belt, but aid workers said they feared donor fatigue and a weak global recovery may prevent them from reaching the target. Conflicts in Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Central African Republic have disrupted markets and caused food shortages across the savannah region, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned. The problems in the Sahel, a semi-arid belt south of the Sahara Desert that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean eastward to the Red Sea, have also weighed on the United Nations' efforts to protect refugees, another component of its aid appeal. More than 1.6 million people have abandoned their homes and half of these have sought refuge in countries like Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, which are already under strain.