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Niger + 2 more

UNICEF Niger Humanitarian Situation Report, January - December 2019

Attachments

Highlights

  • The security deteriorated through the year due to the actions of non-state armed Groups (NSAGs) in Niger. The regions of Diffa, Tillabery, Tahoua and Maradi were the most affected by this situation, which impacted directly UNICEF’s programme delivery.

  • Humanitarian access continues to be a major constraint, due to the security context and government restrictions mainly in the Tillaberi and Tahoua region. About 10,000 newly displaced people for 1,800 households are still deprived of emergency assistance in Tillabery since the imposition of armed escorts on the humanitarian community.

  • On 10 December 2019, assailants struck a Nigerien military camp close to the settlement of Inates on the border with Mali, killing more than 70 soldiers in the deadliest attack on security forces in the country’s history.

  • By December 31st, 2019, 115 schools were closed in Niger due to security reasons from which 111 in Tillabery region. Twenty-nine schools were attacked in the Tillabery region, and among them 14 were burned.

  • 10,207 cases of measles were recorded in 2019 in Niger, with 55 deaths, affecting almost all health districts. UNICEF has contributed to the response to the measles epidemics this year through the purchase and supply of vaccines, as well as operational costs.

Funding Overview and Partnership

UNICEF appeals for US$ 45.9M to sustain provision of life-saving services for women and children. UNICEF expresses its sincere gratitude to all public and private donors for the contributions received. However, by the end of the year, the HAC had a funding gap of 42%, leaving humanitarian needs of children and their families unmet, especially in the area of Child Protection, Education and WaSH, and for Lake Chad Basin Crisis. For the Health sector, the target number of children vaccinated against measles has been reached because of the government and NGOs support in the response, although there was a financial gap of 65%.
In line with the strengthening of the humanitarian-development nexus, UNICEF Nutrition section included in its 2019 financial needs funding towards reinforcing the coordination mechanisms at national but also decentralized level, as well as funding to strengthen malnutrition prevention interventions, including high-impact interventions such as infant and young child feeding (IYCF) counselling and vitamin A / deworming supplementation. While the nutrition section managed to mobilize enough funding to cover the needs related to treatment of SAM (hence reaching 100% of the target related to the number of SAM children admitted for treatment), the shortfall of funding for prevention of malnutrition resulted in lower coverage than expected with regards to implementation of these interventions.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

Humanitarian Needs Overview, Response Plan, and 2020 outlook: After the finalization of HNO/HRP narratives, HPC 2020 moved into a phase of project submission on the Projects Module Platform. UNICEF has submited projects in the area of WaSH, Education, RRM and Child Protection. Project Module included all the projects that were part of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and remain one of the funding tools of the HPC.
Tillabery and Tahoua: Reports indicated that increasingly, schools are being targeted by non-state armed actors, with threats made against teachers and parents. Access was very limited due to continuous insecurity, a cumbersome civil-military coordination process and frequent cancelling of missions due to incidents and reports of armed group activity. Lack of access slowed down program delivery (e.g. for IDPs under the CERF funding).
Floods: In 2019, more than 259,000 people have been affected by floods, and needs were largely unmet due to humanitarian and governmental lack of capacities to response. The government asked the humanitarian community for assistance in wash, food and non-food items / shelter. UNICEF h