Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
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Armed conflict in northeast Nigeria continues to adversely affect the lives and prospects of 7.7 million people, 60 per cent of them children. This is down slightly from the 8.3 million people impacted in 2022. Two million of those affected are internally displaced. Additionally, 474,000 people in the country's northwest and 489,0003 in Benue State have been displaced due to armed violence, including farmer-herder violence. These crises contribute to food and nutrition insecurity and lead to child protection risks. Compounding this are flooding, childhood illnesses, disease outbreaks and the lack of adequate WASH facilities – all affecting children's ability to realize their rights to survive and thrive.
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UNICEF will address these challenges through a multi-sectoral response and an integrated intervention package. A gender-inclusive durable solutions lens will be incorporated into programme design; and the feedback of affected people sought and addressed.
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UNICEF requires $214.7 million to deliver integrated nutrition, WASH, health, child protection and education assistance to 4.8 million people in Nigeria, including 3.4 million children in need. This includes $100 million for nutrition support, $40 million for education and $28 million for WASH interventions.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS
An estimated 3 million people (59 per cent children) are internally displaced in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States in Nigeria's northeast; Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina States in the northwest; and Benue State in north-central Nigeria. The proportion of displaced people living in camps is 45 per cent in the northeast; 12 per cent in the northwest; and 38 per cent in Benue State. Displacement is primarily due to protracted armed conflict in its fifteenth year in the northeast, armed violence (banditry and abduction) in the northwest and climate-related clashes between farmers and herders in the country's Middle Belt. A multsectoral needs assessment published in early 2023 for the three northwestern states highlighted WASH, shelter and education as prioritized needs. The humanitarian crises and government returnees programme raise urgent concerns about the needs of children affected by conflict, including grave violations, gender-based violence and related child protection needs.
In the northeast, all nine formal camps for internally displaced persons around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, were closed by the Government and 160,000 people relocated to more remote areas. Yet 293 camps across the three affected states remain open,13 and displacement in informal camps or among host communities continues in Maiduguri.
Polio, diphtheria and cholera continue to affect children in Nigeria. Cholera is endemic, with 2,860 suspected cases (with a 2.9 per cent case fatality rate)14 in 2023. A diphtheria outbreak centred in the northwestern state of Kano had recorded 9,486 confirmed cases in 2023 as of 12 October. Notably, 60 per cent of cases are among unvaccinated children, highlighting the humanitarian consequences of development-related vulnerabilities.
Climate-related disasters are taking a toll, including flooding, which heavily impacts southern Nigeria. In late 2022, the country experienced the most severe flooding in a decade, with 4.4 million people affected, including 2.6 million children. Some 2.4 million people were temporarily displaced due to flooding and sought refuge in makeshift shelters, including in schools and health facilities, which adversely affected the continuity of basic services.
Around 2.6 million children suffered from severe wasting in 2023 – a near-doubling of the severe wasting burden compared with 2022, when 1.4 million children were affected. Compared with 2022, the northeast saw a 68 per cent increase in admissions of severely malnourished children with medical complications,15 partly due to a measles outbreak that claimed 50 lives. In the northwest, while malnutrition rates decreased in Katsina State in 2023, a large part of Sokoto State recorded emergency levels of severe wasting.16 Additionally, access to clean water and sanitation is deteriorating; and hostilities continue to disrupt education, with approximately 90 schools closed in the northeast.