Nigeria: Humanitarian Dashboard (January - April 2017)

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Violence induced by the Boko Haram insurgency now in its eight year and military counter-insurgency operations has forced more than 1.8 million people to flee their homes in the six northeastern states, and particularly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (where 92 per cent of the displaced are from). More than half of these displaced are children.

Insecurity has severely restricted livelihood activities such as farming and trade, worsening an already dire food security situation and leading to heavy inflation of staple food prices. As areas become accessible again, many who sought refuge in neighbouring countries are returning to their areas of origin (15,628 in April alone) which is further stretching the emergency services in place. According to the latest Cadre Harmonisé assessment, 4.7 million people are currently classified as in need of food assistance (IPC 3 to 5) in the three most crisis-affected states. If nothing is done, this number is projected to increase to 5.2 million between June and August this year during the peak of the lean season and as certain areas become inaccessible due to flooding.

During the first four months of 2017, despite insufficient funding and access challenges, humanitarian organisations were able to reach more than 38 per cent of the targeted population with life-saving aid. As coordinated preparedness plans are developed to mitigate the impact of the rainy season (disease prevention and treatment, nutrition support, prepositioning of supplies, trainings...), additional funding is urgently needed.