Morning Briefing

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week "called on the global community to act quickly to address what he described as a 'cascading crisis' sweeping the Sahel region of West Africa, where 15 million people have been affected by the drought and conflict-related crisis in the area," the U.N. News Centre reports. Speaking to the Luxembourg Parliament on Tuesday, Ban said, "I call upon the world to respond. Simply put, we must do more -- and do it quickly" (4/17). On Wednesday, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake appeared on BBC World News to discuss the drought and malnutrition among children. "Lake tells the BBC's Jane O'Brien that his organization is trying to fight 'donor fatigue,' after years of crises in the region by" portraying the success stories of children in the region and through a social media campaign to raise awareness and funds, the news service notes (4/18).