Right now the Sahel region of West Africa is facing the consequence of drought, poor harvest and soaring food prices. This has left over 11 million people at risk of hunger. Seven countries in the region have declared states of emergency and asked the world for help.

Urgent action is needed to avert disaster.

This year’s ‘Professional Football Against Hunger’ campaign is sounding the alarm on the Sahel to avoid a repeat of the catastrophe last year in the Horn of Africa. Tens of thousands died there and many of them could have been saved if the international community acted on time.

Professional football has the power to mobilise awareness and the political will to stop hunger and help the people of the Sahel.

This is why European football leagues are once again joining with the European Union’s humanitarian aid efforts alongside the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation in order to highlight the situation in the Sahel, to sound the alarm and to save lives.