North-eastern Nigeria: Half a million people one step away from famine
With half a million people one step away from famine in north-eastern Nigeria, UN humanitarians are sounding the alarm bell on Wednesday at a briefing at the United Nations in Geneva asking for urgently needed funding to provide life-saving operations.
“The number of people facing severe hunger in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, the three key areas where we are working as a humanitarian community, the number of people facing severe hunger is 4.3 million, up from 4.1 million last year. More than half a million people are facing emergency levels of food insecurity, which is one step away from famine,” said the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country, Matthias Schmale.
As a result of the alarming food security and nutrition crisis in the country, an estimated 6 million people need immediate food assistance.
Particularly staggering are the numbers of children affected by this crisis. 700,000 children under the age of five years are at risk of life-threatening severe acute malnutrition, a number which has doubled compared to last year.
“What we are talking about in the north-east is 700,000 children and this by itself, it’s really alarming,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria. “It is those children that are very close of dying, who really need immediate therapeutical response in health facilities. But we also have moderate, acute malnutrition and stunted children that require complementary feeding.”
The humanitarian coordinator also pointed out that the crisis is disproportionately affecting women and girls who face increased risk of violence, including abduction, rape and sexual abuse. Out of 2.2 million internally displaced persons (IDP), over the half are female.
“This crisis is primarily the result of years of protracted conflict”, said Mr. Schmale. “We are in the 13th year of a non-international armed conflict and the insecurity that comes with the conflict that continues to prevent many people from farming or earning their own income.” He added that “what we see more and more is illegal vehicle checkpoints by non-state armed actors and improvised explosive device attacks. That is what is making road movement risky and again, of course, is affecting severely the population.”
High food and fuel prices also have increased the cost of humanitarian operations. Due to security concerns, the north-eastern part of Nigeria can only be accessed by helicopter.
“Deep trenches circling these villages, and the IDPs live inside the trenches. They can't go outside the trenches”, explained David Stevenson, director for the World Food Programme in Nigeria. “The government policy, the military policy, the police policy agrees that it's not safe for them to go outside those trenches. So, when we fly in, the farmers’ fields are empty. We look out the window, there's no farmers there. And yet it's a farming area. So, they're dependent on food assistance for two reasons, because they're in camps and they're hungry.”
Climate change also had a significant impact on the country’s development.
“Nigeria is one of the countries across the Sahel that's on the frontline of the climate crisis,” said Mr. Schmale. “Last year we saw the worst floods in ten years in Nigeria, not just the north-east, which expected more than 4.4 million people across the country.”
Overall, the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for north-east Nigeria requesting US$1.3 billion dollars is only 25 per cent funded (336.7 million) at mid-year.
-ends-
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation
As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , UNICEF
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , UNOG
Latest report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Press briefing: Human rights situation in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory
1
2
1
Press Conferences | UNIDIR
Launch of the Cluster Munition Monitor 2025 report
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR
The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WIPO , WMO , OHCHR , UNICEF , UNHCR , WHO
Michele Zaccheo, Chief, UNTV, Radio and Webcast Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.