UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Donors on Tuesday pledged over 1.7 billion U.S. dollars at a ministerial conference to scale up life-saving humanitarian aid in the central Sahel, which covers Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the co-hosts of the conference announced.

The biggest donor was Switzerland with a pledge of 464.1 million dollars for two years, followed by the United States (274.8 million dollars), Denmark (183.1 million dollars), the European Union (122.8 million dollars) and Germany (118.2 million dollars), according to figures provided by the United Nations, which co-hosted the virtual conference with Denmark, Germany, and the European Union.

Violence has displaced more than 1.5 million people in the central Sahel region, a twenty-fold increase in two years. Gender-based violence has spiked, millions of children are out of school, and basic health and social services are lacking. There are three times more acutely food insecure people today compared to one year ago, said the co-hosts in a press release.

Poverty and climate change are threatening people's traditional way of life, and more than 13 million people need humanitarian assistance. This includes 7 million children caught in the surge of armed violence and the socio-economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Women and girls bear a disproportionate burden of the crisis in the central Sahel, they said.

"The central Sahel region is at a breaking point," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the ministerial conference. "We need to reverse this downward spiral with a renewed push for peace and reconciliation. And we need to make space for vital humanitarian assistance and investments in development and people."

Guterres appealed for 2.4 billion dollars to cover the remaining months of 2020 and provide emergency assistance throughout 2021. Twenty-four governments and institutional donors responded on Tuesday.

Once released, the funds will help some 10 million people with nutrition and food, health services, water and sanitation, shelter, education, and protection, and provide support to survivors of gender-based violence.