Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 10 February 2023 - 312 national and international NGOs and associations of the Secrétariat Permanent des ONG (SPONG) and the Forum des ONG internationales humanitaires (FONGIH) strongly condemn the brutal and deliberate murder of two humanitarian workers of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the exercise of their duties which took place on 8 February 2023 on the Dédougou - Tougan axis in the Boucle du Mouhoun region of Burkina Faso.

We express our solidarity and compassion to the families and colleagues of the victims, as well as to all the victims of this security crisis. We recall that associations and non-governmental organisations provide aid to populations according to humanitarian principles and in compliance with International Humanitarian Law.

Our mission is to protect and save lives. Our interventions are defined on the basis of the needs of the most vulnerable populations and without any form of discrimination 27 humanitarian workers were killed, injured or abducted in 2021 and 2022.

The vast majority of them are Burkinabe aid workers, who are more exposed to risk because they work on the front line. The situation on the ground remains difficult but we reiterate our daily commitment to the communities affected by the crisis in Burkina Faso and we launch an urgent appeal to ensure that the tragedy that affected our two MSF colleagues does not happen again.

By SPONG (Secrétariat Permanent des ONG) and FONGIH (Forum des ONG internationales humanitaires)