Young Sudanese mama, Fatima*, bin tink say di worst don pass wen she, like plenty oda pipu wey dey run from di wahala for dia kontri, find refuge for Chad wey be dia neighbouring kontri.

Life dey safer for Chad, but e no mean say e dey easy. Di international funding don reduce and di plenty refugees wey dey come dey make am hard for kontri like Chad to dey provide di important support wey pipu like Fatima need.

“Wen I first come here, we get one safe place wey women fit go for medical care and counselling afta dem don suffer violence,” Fatima, wey be 32 years old, tok as she dey carry her pikin for one crowded refugee camp.

“Dat centre no dey work again. Where we go go now?” she ask.

Di United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) don warn say di reduced funding, especially from di US, dey affect di important protection services. Dis one dey put displaced pipu for risk of abuse, trafficking, forced return to di war zones wey dem run from, and even death.

But e mean say hope no dey again without Western aid?

Di oda side of di funding cut na say regional and local initiatives don dey rise, and dem dey try find oda ways to reduce di aid gap, even if dem no fit close am finish.

Hope still dey.

Türkiye dey lead for di humanitarian support wey dem dey give Sudan, di kontri wey war don dey since 2023.

For May 6, 2024, Türkiye send dia second 'Ship of Goodness,' wey carry 1,605 tonnes of food, clothes, and hygiene supplies go Port Sudan. Di Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) na dem send di ship.

For July 2024, Türkiye still send another ship wey carry 2,408 tonnes of humanitarian aid go Sudan. Di aid include medicine, clothes, hygiene supplies, and shelter materials.

Di Turkish Red Crescent, with di help of Sudanese Red Crescent, don help over three million pipu since di crisis start. Di Turkish humanitarian agency, TIKA, dey also help for plenty African kontries to support di less privileged.

For Chad, di King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) don provide $4.5 million for emergency shelter assistance to Sudanese refugees, so dat dem go get safe place to stay.

Di Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) don join hand with UNHCR to integrate refugees into di national economic system for Chad. Di plan na to create small business opportunities, give vocational training, organise employment programs, and help di local community to dey strong despite di funding wahala.

For West Africa, grassroots initiatives wey refugees dey lead don dey fill di gap for medical and psychosocial support. Volunteer-run clinics and peer counselling groups don dey help survivors of gender-based violence.

Di displacement matter na serious wahala. Two-thirds of di world refugees dey live for neighbouring kontries, and many of dem kontries dey already face poverty and instability. Wen international funding reduce, e dey add more wahala for di host communities and humanitarian agencies.

“We dey see di direct effect of di funding cut every day,” Dr Zubeida Swaleh, wey dey treat refugees for northern Kenya, tok.

“Rape survivors no fit get proper medical care. Pikin wey dem don separate from dia family dey more open to trafficking. Dis no be just numbers; na real lives dey at risk.”

For South Sudan, 75% of UNHCR’s safe spaces for women and girls don close, and dis one don affect 80,000 survivors of sexual violence wey no fit get medical or legal support.

For di Eastern Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region, one million vulnerable children – many of dem no get family – dey face more risk of abuse, child marriage, and recruitment by armed groups.

For Mali, dem don suspend biometric registration for nearly 20,000 asylum-seekers. For Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), birth registration for over 14,000 refugee children dey pending, and dis one dey increase dia risk of statelessness.

“Without legal recognition, refugees go just dey invisible,” Jean-Claude Nsengiyumva, wey be Burundian human rights lawyer, tok.

“Dem no fit work, dem no fit waka freely, and dem go dey easy target for exploitation.”

Di reduced funding don affect gender-based violence programs for West and Central Africa, including Burkina Faso, Chad, and Nigeria.

Di funding shortage don also affect voluntary repatriation programs wey dey help refugees go back dia kontri wen di condition don better. For Chad and Cameroon, 12,000 Central African refugees wey wan go back still dey wait for di support wey dem need.

“I wan go back to my kontri, but I no go return if war still dey,” Jacques*, wey be papa of three, tok for one Cameroonian refugee camp. “If help no dey, how I go rebuild my life?”

As di crisis dey go on, some African governments and humanitarian groups dey find alternative ways to reintegrate refugees.

Di African Union and oda regional blocs don dey discuss economic inclusion policies wey fit help refugees find long-term stability without depending only on foreign aid.

Refugee-led initiatives, like agriculture programs and skill-building workshops, don dey empower displaced communities to dey self-sufficient, and dis one dey bring small hope for di uncertain times.

Experts dey warn about di long-term wahala wey go happen if di global funding cut dey control how Africa dey respond to displacement.

“If you remove protection services, no be only refugees you dey harm – you dey destabilise di whole region,” Lorna Mwiti, wey be Nairobi-based researcher on forced migration, tok. “Desperate pipu go take desperate actions, whether na to embark on dangerous journeys or join armed groups to survive.”

As UNHCR dey mark 75 years of refugee protection, dem dey beg di international community to step up.

“Di attack on civilians must stop, and safe passage must dey for pipu wey dey run for dia lives. Di international community need to increase support for refugees,” Magatte Guisse, UNHCR’s representative for Chad, tok.

For refugees like Fatima, di matter no fit be more serious. “We don lose plenty already,” she tok. “Abeg, make di world no forget us.”

Names wey get asterisk (*) don change to protect di identity of di refugees.