UN: Civilians suffering in Africa's Sahel region

(Vatican Radio) The United Nations on Thursday said civilians in the Sahel region of Africa continue to suffer from the negative consequences of terrorist attacks.

The Sahel is the semiarid zone of Africa below the Sahara desert, and it includes parts of the Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan.

UN envoy Hiroute Guebre Sellassie the Security Council, telling them the humanitarian situation in the Sahel remains extremely fragile in 2014 with at least 20 million people at risk of food insecurity and nearly five million children at risk of acute malnutrition.

"In the little time that I have had in Office, I was struck by the deterioration of the political and security situation in the region, notably in Libya, the enduring political and security challenges in Mali, the persistent terrorist attacks throughout the region, notably those carried out by Boko Haram in Nigeria, all of which continue to have negative consequences on civilians and local economies," she said.