The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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-
- Exterior medium shot: UN Palais with flags
- Wide shot: speaker and moderator behind podium at the press conference, screens with speaker on both sides of the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria: “The number of people facing severe hunger in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, the three key ones 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.”
- Wide shot: speakers and moderator at podium, screen with speaker, attendee in the foreground taking notes
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Country Representative, 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.”
- Medium shot: speakers at podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Country Representative, Nigeria: “The big numbers of acute, severe acute malnutrition. What we are talking about in the Northeast is 700,000 children and this by itself, it’s really alarming.”
- Medium shot: speaker at podium, attendee’s laptop in the foreground
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria: “This crisis is primarily the result of years of protracted conflict. 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.”
- Close shot: attendee at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria: “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.”
- Medium shot: speakers and moderator at podium, moderator in the foreground
- SOUNDBITE (English) – David Stevenson, World Food Programme Country Director, Nigeria: “Deep trenches circling these villages. And the IDPs live inside the trenches. They can't go outside the trenches. 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. 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.”
- Close shot: attendee taking notes at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria: “Nigeria is one of the countries across the Sahel that's on the frontline of the climate crisis. 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.”
- Wide shot: speakers and moderator at podium, screen with speaker, attendee and moderator in the foreground
- Close shot: attendee taking notes
- Close shot: attendee taking a picture
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , ILO , UNCTAD , WHO , FAO , ICRC
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labour Organization, Human Rights Council, United Nations Trade and Development and International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said today he was extremely concerned about the recent escalation in hostilities in northwest Syria, which further compounds the suffering endured by millions of civilians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO , OCHA
Syria escalation: Civilians face deadly attacks, health care in distress and aid access compromised
The ongoing escalation of violence in northwest Syria linked to the wider conflict in Gaza and Lebanon has left civilians dead and injured, hospitals “overwhelmed” and attacks on healthcare on the rise, the UN warned on Tuesday.
2
1
4
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Multiple unending conflicts, climate change and a glaring disregard for long-established international humanitarian law are set to leave a staggering 305 million people in need of lifesaving assistance next year, the UN’s top aid official warned on Wednesday.
Embargo Wednesday, 4 December 2024 at 0600 CET / 0000 ET
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNRISD , UNHCR , IFRC , OHCHR , WHO , OCHA
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva (UNIS), chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by representatives and spokespersons for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Rights Office on Friday warned about the plight of civilians in Ukraine after further attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITU
An international panel has been set up to protect undersea communications cables that are crucial for international trade and security, the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said on Friday. The creation of the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience comes amid an ongoing investigation into the severing of two fibre optic cables in the Baltic Sea, in less than 24 hours between 17 and 18 November.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | FAO , ITU , OHCHR , WHO , UNHCR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva (UNIS), chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the Deputy Secretary-General for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), representatives and spokespersons for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | ITU
An estimated 5.5 billion people have access to the internet in 2024, an increase of 227 million people based on revised estimates for 2023, the UN specialized agency for telecommunications, ITU, said on Wednesday.