This situation in recent years has been exascerbated by the emergence of armed groups who have spread over the Sahel region causing a humanitarian and security crisis that originated in northern Mali in 2012. This conflict has now consumed the Liptako-Gourma area in the Mali-Burkina-Niger Faso border region. This activity has led to a 1200% increase in the number of people forced to flee their homes in the area with the number of IDPs in 2019 jumping ten-fold to 560,000 with a further 200,000 people displaced by the beginning of 2020. It is estimated that 2.2 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance with 1.9 million people now in urgent need of water.

Apart from the rainy season (May/June - September), Burkina Faso relies upon its three main rivers for water; the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambe) and the Red Volta (Nazinon); however only the Black Volta and the River Komoe in the south-west of the country flow all year round. Burkina Faso also has a number lakes and streams that flow for part of the year, however, ironically, these often flood and cause wide spread damage such as in the summer of 2010 when entire villages were lost and tens of thousands were left homeless. During the rest of the year, from October until May (and sometimes longer), a hot, dry wind from the Sahara sweeps across the plains and hills and no rain falls with most rivers drying up. Burkina Faso is not alone in facing such conditions as rainfalls across western Africa have been steadily reducing over recent years and levels of desertification have been increasing. As a result many Burkinabe have abandoned their homesteads and moved to urban areas, but without planning and against a backdrop of national poverty, this has merely compounded the scarcity of water and sanitation facilities.